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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  institute  for  Historical  IVIicroreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


Th&  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
witich  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


D 
D 


D 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommag6e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculde 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  init  (i.e.  ocher  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmAes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduitf*  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 


D 


r~7]   Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  da  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  re.  tored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul^es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxei 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachet6es  ou  piqu^es 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tachdes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


I      I  Pages  damaged/ 

I      I  Pages  re.  tored  and/or  laminated/ 

I      I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

r~n  Pages  detached/ 

I      I  Showthrough/ 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  indgaie  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


a 
1 


b 

ri 
ft 
a 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmies  d  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmA  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


z. 

1 


i 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


e 

fttails 
8  du 
lodifier 
r  une 
Image 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illusti^ated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  nrinted 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exemplaire  film«  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
g4n6rosit«  de: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  «t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couver'iure  en 
papier  est  imprim«e  so  ,t  filmAs  en  corr^mienqant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  ei  terminir.i  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illujtration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Toi;  i  ies  autres  exemplaires 
origiriaux  sont  fWmAi  i  n  commandant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  co  nporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'i'  ustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qu   comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  s  jivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidi«»  image  t*    cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  s/mbo'  -  — »►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN  ". 

Les  cartes,  p'anches.  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffArents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  film*  d  partir 
de  i'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


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3 


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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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HO!  FOR  ALASKA 


^— 


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HOW  TO  GO 

WHAT  TO  TAKE 

WHAT  IT  COSTS 

WHAT  YOU  FIND 


VJ 


IS 


9^ 

ILLUSTRATED.       f 


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0  THE  KLOiN DIKE  and 

GOLD  FIELDS  OF  YUKON 


AU 


Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 


$1 

Liabil 


SHORTEST,  QUICKEST  and  ONLY  CANADIAN  ROUTi'. 


THE    EASIEST,    CHEAPEST    AND    QUICKEST    WAY    TO    REAC»« 

THE  YUKON  IS  BY  THE  CANADIAN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY 

FROM    NEW  YORK,    BOSTON,    MONTREAL, 

TORONTO,  CHICAGO  AND  ST.  PAUL. 


ConoectioDS  witli  Steamers  from  Victoria  and  Seattle. 
Canadian  Mercbandise  Subject  to  No  Delays  or  Duties. 
Supplies  can  be  Purcbased  at  Winnipeg,  Vancouver, 
and  Victoi ia  as  Reasonable  as  in  tbe  United  State. 


FOR  FULL.  INFORMATION,  RATES.  ACCOMMODATIONS,  ETC  , 

APPLY  TO 

E.  V.  SKINNER,  Q.  E.  A.,  353  Broadway,  New  York. 

H.  McMURTRIE,  F.  &  P.  Agent,  Third  and  Chestnut  Streets,  Ph 
adelphia.  Pa. 
J.  B.  ROBERTS,  Ticket  Agent,  21  Exchange  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  V. 

F.  W.  SALSBURY,  F.  &  P.  Agent,  Ferguson  Block,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

H.  J.  COLYIN,  D.  P.  A.,  197  Washington  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
C.  E.  Mcpherson,  a.  d.  p.  a.,  King  SL,  Toronto,  Ont. 
J.  F.  LEE,  0.  A.,  P.  D.,  232  South  Clark  St.,  Chicago. 
W.  R.  CALLAWAY,  Q.  P.  A.,  Soo  Line,  MinneapoM 
Or  to  Minn.,  ^. 

D.  McNICOLL,  P.  T.  M., 

Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  Dontreal,  Quebec. 


Ist.- 

Clainis,  ti> 
A  PROSl' 

selcrtfd  1)' 

12d.  - 

lit'  sccuriiv 
Kn;4iiiecr's 
suitable  V 

The  S 
shares  are 

The  n 
jirimarv  o' 

Tlie  li 
llidusaiul  I 
au  tquiva 
been  paid 
aniounts. 

N  H- 
he  entitle 
surre;i(ler 
separate  I 
live  (^)  i>f 

Will 
invested ; 
be  liste 

By  J 

of  the  t 

Tlie 
ICni^iueer 
Workers 
It  is 
On  art  y.  CI 
mund,  \vl 
riaeer  CI 
very  oftei 
liable  aul 
known,  a 
thai  it  is 
pelenee, 
opixirlun 
eannot  U) 
harvest. 

I'or 
No.  17 
and  (■)  I',  : 

X  H. 
utteutioii 


»  s 


ALASKA  GOLD   FIELDS. 

\         KLONDIKE  SYNDICATE 
OF    NEW   YORK   CITY. 

$100,000  Capital,  in  10,000  Shares  of  ($10) 
Ten  Dollars  Each. 

Liability  limited  to  the  amount  of  stock  subscribed  and  paid  for  at  par. 

THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  SYNDICATE  IS  : 

1st. — To  ac(|uirc'  ami  wmk  (.erlaiii  valuable  Placer  and  Quartz  Gdld 
Claims,  to  be  located  in  the  KLONblKI-:  COLD  l-'IHLDS  ami  ALASKA,  by 
A  \nu  )Sl'i:CTIN(;  I'AKTV  of  TWICNTV-F IVL  (25)  members,  \v\u>  will  be 
selected  l)y  the  F><)ard  of  Directors,  from  the  Subscribers. 

Ud. — To  obtain  money,  on  the  co-nperalive  plan,  to  pay  for  the  expenses 
iif  securini;  and  WMrkin,;^  the  Mines,  examininij  Titles,  furnishin.u^  Surveys, 
Kn;4ineer's  Report.  Fsuinates,  etc.;  all  of  which  is  to  be  incorporated  in  a 
suitable  Prospectus,  as  follows  : 

The  Syndicate  will  [troceed  to  business  as  .soon  as  the  first  live  hundred 
shares  are  S(jld. 

The  reason  for  this  is,  that  this  amount  may  be  enough  to  accomplish  the 
l)rimary  object  of  the  Syndicate. 

The  limit  of  expense  for  or.iifanization  purjjoses  and  services  shall  be  five 
thousand  dollars  (S5,ooo),  and  by  delivery  to  the  promoters  of  said  Syndicate, 
an  tipiivalent  amount  in  Syn  liiate  full-paid  shares  to  that  which  may  have 
been  ])aid  for  in  cash,  as  ai.d  when  the  same  may  have  been  paid  for  in  like 
amounts. 

N  II.— The  members  of  this  Syndicate  will,  in  ii(l<litioil  to  the  above, 
be  entitled  to  receive  ten  times  the  amount  of  their  subscriptions  (upon 
surrender  of  their  Syndicate  certificates,)  in  fllll-paid  shares,  of  each  of  five 
separate  I'ive  Million  Dollar  ($5,000,000)  Companies,  to  be  organized  on  each 
live  (^)  of  the  (lold  Mining  Claims,  when  secured  by  the  prospecting  jiarty. 

Without  further  payment,  $5or)  in  stock  will  be  given  foi  only  .'?io 
invested;  or  lift.V  times  the  amount  of  your  subscri])tiim.  This  stoek  will 
be  listed  on  the  N«'W  York  3Iiiiin^-  Exehaii^e. 

Ity  .joining  this  Syndieate  you  will  have  an  interest  in  all 
of  the  twenty-live  elaims  we  seeiire. 

The  Syndicate  Prospecting  Party  will  consist  of  a  Piiysician,  a  Minin.g 
l-^ii.gineer,  a  Purser,  a  Cook,  and  twenty-one  (2i)  competent  and  hardy  Mine 
Workers 

It  is  i)ro[)osed  that  each  Company  formed  shall  own  at  least  one  or  twi> 
Ouarlz  Claims,  as  well  as  Placer,  in  order  that  work  may  be  done  all  the  year 
round,  while  the  Placer  can  only  be  worked  in  the  Summer.  Besides  this, 
Placiu-  Claims  in  time  become  exhausted,  while  Quartz  Claims  seldom  do,  and 
very  often  prove  to  be  of  the  .greatest  value.  From  all  accounts  and  from  re- 
liable authority,  this  is  the  Greatest  tJ«d<l  I>isc<»very  the  world  has  ever 
known,  anil  to  those  who  have  not  the  means,  or  the  time  to  .go,  we  would  say 
that  it  is  your  fault  if  you  do  not  invest  what  you  can,  now,  and  secure  a  com- 
petence, without  risk  or  expense,  to  which  others  are  subjected.  This  is  the  one 
opi)orluuity  of  your  life;  therefore  take  advanta.ge  of  it  while  you  can.  You 
cannot  lose  much  and  according  to  authentic  reports  \-oii  are  sure  to  reap  a  rich 
harvest.  SUBSCRIPTION   BOOKS  NOWOPFN. 

I"or  full  particulars  write  to  or  apply  at  the  ( lUice  of  the  Syndicate, 
No.  1  7  Broadway,  liooms  Nos.  1  and  2,  between  the  houis  of  y  \.  .m. 
and  6  p,  m. 

\  B. —Money  Orders  sent  by  l'-\ press  or  Post  Oltice,  will  receive  prompt 
attention 


y. 


« 


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A 


ALASKA 


THE  ELDORADO  OF  THE  fllDNIGHT  SUN 


I 


Marvels  of  the  Yukon— The  Klondike  Discovery 
—Fortunes  Made  in  a  Day  — How  to  Go, 
What  to  Take  and  What  it  Costs  — 
Routes,  Rates  and  Distances- 
Attractions  and  Dangers- 
Land  Laws 

t 

Practical    Counsel    for    Prospectors, 
Tourists  and  Stay-at-Homes 

1  ■; 

ILLUSTRATED    . 


0) 


<0' 


Copyright. 

THE  REPUBLIC  TRESS 

14  Lafayette  I'lace,  Nkw  York 

August,  1897. 


For  Index  see  last  page 


\ 


HO  FOR  ALASKA! 
HO  FOR  THE  KLONDIKE  I 


WHAT  a  fever  of  excitement  has  been  stirred  up  in  the  veins 
of  millions  by  the  marvellous  stories  of  Che  fabulous  wealth 
discovered  in  the  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Yukon!  The  country  is  al- 
most beside  itself  at  the  extraordinary  revelations,  and  many  an 
ordinarily  soberminded  citizen  finds  himself  strangely  thrilled  by  the 
tales  of  sudden  fortunes  taken  from  the  gravelly  soil  of  our  great  river 
of  the  northwest.  An  uneasiness,  such  as  that  which  sent  many  a 
Spaniard  on  a  luckless  quest  for  the  will-o'-the-wisp  El-Dorado  in  days 
of  old  seizes  the  breast  of  the  day  laborer,  the  clerk,  the  plodding 
professional  man,  the  half-successful  merchant,  or  the  effervescent 
speculator.  "Why  should  I  toil  along  in  a  mere  hand-to-mouth 
existence,"  he  says  to  himself,  "while  others  are  picking  up  inde- 
pendent fortunes  on  the  Yukon  ?  What  is  a  few  months'  hardship 
in  exchange  for  ease  and  comfort  for  the  rest  of  my  life.  I'll  pack 
up  and  go  at  once." 

Ah!  But  "  there's  the  wife;  "  or,  "  there  are  the  little  ones;  "  or, 
"I  am  tied  down  by  business;  "  or,  "I  can't  raise  the  necessary 
money,"  or  numerous  other  restraining  causes  appear  on  second 
thought,  which  serve  fortunately  as  wholesome  restraints  to  the  too 
impetuous.  We  are  not  Arabs  or  Indians,  leading  a  nomadic  exist- 
ence, free  to  fold  up  our  tent  on  a  moment's  notice  and  migrate 
whithersoever  we  will.  And  so,  we  comfort  ourselves  with  philoso- 
phical reflections  on  the  compensations  of  civilization  and  conclude 
that  the  Lord  intended  us  to  be  poor  all  our  earthly  lives,  in  order 
that  we  may  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  man  who  is  so  tied  down  that  he  cannot  get  away  will  find 


^  '  I 


;\ 


much  in  the  following  pages  to  solace  him.  The  man  who  is  free 
to  go  will  find  in  them  much  to  help  him.  We  propose  to  paint  an 
unvarnished  picture.  We  intend  to  tell  the  truth,  pro  and  con,  as 
faithfully  as  we  can,  and  base  our  statements  on  information  from 
the  most  authentic  sources  accessible. 

TRUTH   OF  THE  KLONDIKE   STORIES. 

In  the  first  place  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  substantial  truth  of 
the  Klondike  stories.  They  agree  with  well-known  geological  data, 
and  they  are  consistent  with  themselves  and  known  facts.  The 
man  who  is  to  be  discouraged  from  setting  out  for  Alaska  must  be 
deterred  by  considerations  other  than  the  supposed  absence  of  the 
gold.  The  gold  is  there!  It  is  there  in  such  quantities  as  make  il 
probably  the  richest  gold  bearing  region  on  the  contine■'^  For 
centuries  upon  centuries  Boreas  has  been  gnawing  at  the  golden 
vitals  of  those  titanic  mountains  with  his  glacial  teeth,  and  dropping 
his  precious  shining  crumbs  in  the  valleys  and  canyons  for  men  to 
gather.  Amid  scenes  of  unparalleled  grandeur  and  marvellous 
diversity — a  diversity  so  great  as  to  present  almost  contradictory 
physical  features — this  process  has  been  going  on  until  the  region 
has  become  an  Aladdin's  storehouse  of  riches.  For  the  lover  of 
nature,  let  alone  the  lover  of  wealth,  a  trip  to  Alaska  is  worth  the 
cost.  There  stands  the  mighty  St.  Elias  range,  with  an  altitude  of 
20,000  feet,  we^v.ing  the  earth  and  the  sky,  and  clothed  in  a  per- 
petual bridal  of  snow,  looking  across  a  vast  primeval  region  to 
other  mountains  still  smoking  with  Plutonic  fires.  Frozen  deserts 
alternate  with  hot  marshes;  and  boiling  springs  issue  from  beneath 
the  ponderous,  slow-moving  glaciers. 

In  one  section  a  climate  milder  and  more  equable  than  that  of 
our  familiar  State  of  Maine,  contrasts  in  another  with  the  rigors  of 
eternal  winter.  There,  in  the  land  of  the  midnight  sun,  thermom- 
eters register  in  certain  localities  120*'  above  zero  in  the  hot  season, 
and  70''  below  zero  in  the  cold.  There,  during  the  short,  quick 
summer,  the  butterfly  flits  lazily  acrosss  a  region  blooming  with 
beautiful  flowers  which  for  nine  months  of  the  year  is  locked  in  the 
deadly  embrace  of  the  Ice  King,  and  in  which  a  civilized  being  can 
scarcely  maintain  an  existence. 

During  the  short  summer,  the  banks  of  the  Yukon  are  fringed 
with  flowers,  carpeted  with  the  all  pervading  moss  or  tundra.  Birds 
countless  in  numbers  and  of  infinite  variety  in  plumage,  sing  out  a 
welcome  from  every  tree  top.     Pitch  your  tent  where  you  will  in 


10  is  free 

paint  an 

id  con,  as 

tion  from 


il  truth  of 
rical  data, 
cts.     The 
I  must  be 
ice  of  the 
s  make  n 
cnt.     For 
le  golden 
I  dropping 
)r  men  to 
narvellous 
iradictory 
he  region 
:   lover  of 
worth  the 
iltitude  of 
in  a  per- 
region   to 
;n  deserts 
n  beneath 

in  that  of 
i  rigors  of 
thermom- 
ot  season, 
ort,  quick 
ning  with 
ked  in  the 
being  can 

re  fringed 
ra.  Birds 
sing  out  a 
ou  will  in 


midsummer,  a  bed  of  roses,  a  clump  of  poppies  and  a  bunch  of  blue 
bells  will  adorn  your  camp.  But  high  above  this  paradise  of  al- 
most tropical  exuberance  giant  glaciers  sleep  on  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  wall,  which  rises  up  from  a  bed  of  roses.  By  September 
everything  is  changed.  The  bed  of  roses  has  disappea  id  before  the 
icy  breath  of  the  Frost  King,  which  sends  the  thermometer  down  to 
seventy  degrees  below  freezing  point.  The  birds  flee  to  the  south- 
land, the  white  man  '-i  Ms  cabin,  the  Indian  to  his  hut,  and  the  bear 
to  his  sleeping  chambei  .the  mountains.  Every  stream  becomes 
a  sheet  of  ice;  mountain  and  valley  alike  are  covered  with  snow. 

These  rivers  at  (  lakcu  extenf!  in  the  vast  systems  measured  not 
by  hundreds  but  thousan-ls  ui  miles,  diversifying  the  scenery  and 
affording  avenues  of  tiavt!.  With  the  exception  of  the  small  set- 
tled portion  of  southeasL  Alaska,  the  country  is  a  primeval  wilder- 
ness, grand  and  mspirirg.  It  has  no  railroads,  or  wagon  roads. 
Communication  is  entirely  by  natural  courses.  It  has  almost  no 
laws,  as  will  appear  in  the  succeeding  pages,  although  it  is  probable 
that  the  sensation  produced  by  the  gold  discoveries  will  secure  in 
near  future  that  adequate  measure  of  consideratioa  from  Congress 
for  which  the  Governors  of  Alaska  have  repeatedly  pleaded  in  their 
successive  annual  reports  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Indeed, 
it  may  be  said  that  this  is  an  important  turning-point  in  Alaskan 
history;  that  the  rich  gold-finds  in  the  Yukon  country  will  lead  to 
the  speedy  development  of  this  almost  wholly  neglected  territory; 
that  Alaska  will  become  a  constantly  increasing  factor  in  our  na- 
tional existence ;  and  that  she  will  attract  the  attention  not  only  of 
the  speculative,  but  of  the  sober  minded,  enterprising  business  men 
of  the  country. 

This  further  may  be  added,  by  way  of  preface:  the  next  twelve 
months  will  probably  see  more  suffering  and  hardship  in  Alaska  than 
any  succeeding  year.  Carried  away  by  the  cyclone  of  excitement,  a 
multitud*^  of  people  will  rush  into  the  wilderness  beyond  the  capacity 
of  the  region  to  subsist  them.  The  reports  all  agree,  as  might  have 
been  anticipated,  th^t  there  is  no  packing  outfit  now  at  Chilkoot  or 
at  any  other  supply  base  that  is  capable  of  getting  in  supplies  for 
any  large  number  of  men.  Another  season  there  will  be.  At 
present  there  are  but  two  avenues  of  entrance  to  the  Klondike 
country — one  through  the  Yukon,  which  is  closed  by  ice  from  early 
September  until  June;  the  other  overland  and  down  the  chain  of 
lakes  and  rivers  from  Dyea  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Yukon,  But 
a  year  hence,  there   will   probably  be  two   or   three   more   routes 


.:\ 


opened  up,  by  way  of  the  Stikine  river,  or  by  Chilkat  Pass  (which  is 
shorter  than  by  Chilkoot),  or  by  other  ways.  On  July  22,  1897,  a 
joint  resolution  for  the  construction  of  toll-roads  in  Alaska  was 
reported  favorably  in  the  United  States  Senate,  from  the  Committee 
on  Territories,  by  Senator  Carter.  The  resolution  authorizes  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  grant  rights  of  way  two  hundred  feet 
wide.  Franchises  are  to  be  limited  to  twenty  years.  The  rates  of 
toll  are  to  be  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the 
roads  .are  to  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  Secretary.  The  resolu- 
tion applies  to  "trails,  wagon  roads  and  other  highways."  This 
will  afford  opportunity  for  a  decided  improvement  in  the  means  of 
interior  communication.  Tiransportation  of  supplies  will  be  easier 
and  more  reliable.  The  organization  of  new  transportation  com- 
panys  from  the  United  States  to  Alaska  will  remove  the  carrying  of 
food  and  equipments  from  the  hands  of  the  monopolies  that  have 
controlled  them  heretofore.  Prices  will  go  down,  conditions  of  life 
will  be  ameliorated,  and  in  many  ways  the  mere  business  of  sustain- 
ing life,  to  say  nothing  of  digging  fortunes,  will  be  a  less  desperate 
struggle  a  few  years  hence  than  just  now. 

Meanwhile,  the  gold  supply  will  hold  out.  The  presence  of 
these  placer  deposits  yielding  rough  gold  indicates  that  the  precious 
metal  has  not  been  carried  far  from  its  original  quartz  veins,  and 
suggests  that  there  are  treasures  yet  locked  in  the  rocky  chests  of 
the  mountains,  to  be  taken  out  when  the  placer  gold  has  been  picked 
up,  and  when,  in  the  due  course  of  events,  it  becomes  practicable  to 
transport  milling  machinery  into  the  interior  or  to  carry  the 
unmilled  ore  to  the  coast.  The  gold  deposits  exist  over  a  length  of 
500  or  600  miles.  New  districts  will  be  discovered  and  opened  up 
year  by  year  during  probably  the  next  ten  or  twenty  or  thirty  years. 
Now  that  the  first  rich  diggings  have  been  found,  the  progress  is 
likely  to  be  fairly  steady. 

In  order  to  understand  intelligently  the  conditions  which  will 
surround  the  enterprising  man  who,  like  the  Spanish  conquerors  o-^ 
old,  sets  out  to  m.ake  his  conquest  of  Alaska,  it  is  necessary  to 
glance  at  the  history,  physical  characteristics,  and  governmental 
regulations,  before  taking  up  the  more  local  subject  of  the  Yukon 
gold  deposits. 

HISTORY. 

In  1725,  under  commission  of  Peter  t^e  Great,  an  expedition 
crossed  the  continent  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Kamschatha.  Here  a 
vessel,  the  Gabriel^  was  constructed  in  1728,  and  sailed  with  Vitus 


ss  (which  is 

22,  1897,  a 
Alaska  was 

Committee 
horizes  the 
mdred  feet 
rhe  rates  of 
ior,  and  the 
The  resolu- 
lys."  This 
e  means  of 
11  be  easier 
;ation   com- 

carrying  of 
3  that  have 
itions  of  life 

of  sustain- 
ss  desperate 

presence  of 
;he  precious 
:  veins,  and 
cy  chests  of 
been  picked 
acticable  to 
i  carry  the 
•  a  length  of 
1  opened  up 
;hirty  years. 
:  progress  is 

1  which  will 
)nquerors  o"^ 
lecessary  to 
jvernmental 
f  the  Yukon 


expedition 
ha.  Here  a 
i  wiih  Vitus 


Behring  as  master,  who  discovered  St.  Lawrence  Island,  and  passed 
through  Behring  Strait,  which  he  named.  In  July,  1741,  on  another 
expedition,  Admiral  Behring  discovered  the  American  continent  in 
latitude  50°  or  58"  north  (authorities  differ).  During  the  next  hun- 
dred years  there  were  numerous  other  expeditions  by  the  Russians, 
who  took  possession  of  the  region,  and  it  was  called  Russian 
America. 

In  1864,  negotiations  were  privately  begun  for  the  acquisition  of 
the  territory  by  the  United  States,  but  our  Civil  War  distracted 
attention,  and  it  was  not  until  1867  that  the  purchase  was  effected 
by  treaty  for  the  sum  of  $7,200,000.  There  was  a  fierce  opposition 
to  the  measure  in  Congress,  and  it  was  carried  through  almost 
wholly  by  the  efforts  of  Secretary  Seward  and  Senator  Sumner. 
After  the  purchase,  ridicule  was  heaped  upon  it,  and  the  question 
was  asked;  "  Now  that  you  have  it,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
it?"  The  answer  was  not  long  in  coming,  and  it  came  in  such  un- 
mistakable facts  that  criticism  was  turned  to  praise.  In  the  next 
twenty-two  years,  the  products  of  Alaska  paid  for  the  original  pur- 
chase price  eight  or  ten  times  over,  the  furs  being  worth  $46,500,000, 
the  canned  or  cured  fish  $10,000,000,  and  gold  and  silver  $7,000,000 
in  round  figures;  to  say  nothing  of  the  whale  and  oil  fisheries  and 
minor  industries  not  included  in  the  foregoing. 

QEOQRAPHY. 

Beginning  at  Demarcation  Point,  on  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  boundary  line  between  Alaska  and  British  America,  lat.  69°  38 
N.,  long.  141°  W.,  the  coast  extends  westward  to  Cape  Barrow, 
thence  southwesterly  to  Point  Lisburne,  thence  in  a  general  south- 
erly direction  follows  the  line  of  Kotzebue  Sound,  Behring  Strait 
and  Behring  Sea  to  the  southwestern  extremity  of  the  Alaska  Penin- 
sula. From  this  point  the  Aleutian  Islands  sweep  away  to  the 
southwest  in  a  curve  of  a  thousand  miles  with  i«^s  convexity  to  the 
south.  From  the  same  point  the  mainland  makes  a  mighty  bow  of 
1, 200  miles,  trending  first  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  then  bending  to 
the  east  and  south  to  Cape  Muzon,  at  the  entrance  to  Dixon  Sound, 
in  lat.  54"  40'  N.,  long.  132°  40'  W.  Dixon  Sound  extends  eighty 
miles  due  east  to  Portland  Inlet  from  the  entrance  to  which  the 
boundary  line  extends  about  eighty  miles  more  in  a  northerly  direc- 
tion through  Portland  Inlet  and  Portland  Canal.  Thence  the 
boundary  line  extends  in  a  generally  northwesterly  and  westerly 
direction  to  a  point  just  north  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  and  then  runs 


(/J 


[\ 


due  north   along   the    141st  meridian  to  Demarcation   Point   first 
mentioned.      (See  " Boundary  Question.") 

SEAL   ROOKERIES. 

The  rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States  in  the  fur-seal  and 
other  fisheries  were  acquired  by  purchase  from  Russia,  and  conveyed 
to  it  by  treaty  of  cession.  The  fur  seal  rookeries  are  located  on  the 
treeless  and  rocky  Pribylov  Islands  (St.  Paul,  St.  George,  Otter  and 
Walrus),  near  the  center  of  that  part  of  the  Behring  Sea  ceded  to 
United  States,  and  about  1500  miles  due  west  of  Sitka.  St.  Paul 
has  an  area  of  thirty-three  square  miles  and  St,  George  of  twenty- 
seven  square  miles.  The  Alaska  rookeries  maintained  a  seal  popu- 
lation of  about  4,000,000  up  to  1886,  in  spite  of  the  capture  of  an 
average  of  100,000  seals  a  year  for  the  preceeding  fifteen  years,  but 
since  then  the  number  has  been  reduced  by  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  to  less  than  half  a  million.  This  destruction  of  our  seal 
fisheries  has  been  and  is  yet  a  subject  of  serious  international  con- 
cern between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

POPULATION. 

The  eleventh  census  of  the  United  States,  taken  in  1890,  placed 
the  population  of  Alaska  at 

White. 

Male 3,853 

Female 445 


4.293 


Mixed. 

Indian. 

Total. 

891 

12,106 

16,850 

923 

11,426 

12,794 

1,814 


23.532  29,644 

Including  those  who  have  gone  to  the  Yukon  country,  the  white 
population  has  been  increased  to  date  by  about  3,500,  most  of  whom 
have  settled  at  Juneau  and  vicinity. 

DESCRIPTION. 

From  north  to  south  the  extreme  length  of  Alaska  is  about 
1,100  miles,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from  east  to  west  800  miles. 
Its  total  area  is  about  580,000  square  miles.  Alaska  exceeds  in 
area  the  original  thirteen  states,  with  Maine,  Vermont,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Alabama  added,  or  nearly  one- 
fifth  of  the  whole  United  States  and  Territories  (not  counting 
Alaska  itself).  The  vastness  of  this  domain  may  be  realized  from 
the  fact  that  the  mefidian  of  the  most  western  island  of  Alaska, 
Attoo   Island,  lies  64  degrees  west  of  that  of  San  Francisco.     San 

•  8 


tion   Point   first 


the  fur-seal  and 
I,  and  conveyed 
e  located  on  the 
orge,  Otter  and 
J  Sea  ceded  to 
5itka.  St.  Paul 
)rge  of  twenty- 
led  a  seal  popu- 

capture  of  an 
teen  years,  but 

indiscriminate 
ion  of  our  seal 
ernational  con- 


in  1890,  placed 


Total. 

16,850 

12,794 

29,644 

itry,  the 

white 

,  most  of  whom 

laska  is  about 
west  800  miles, 
ska  exceeds  in 
ermont,  Ohio, 
or  nearly  one- 
(not  counting 
e  realized  from 
and  of  Alaska, 
rancisco.     San 


Francisco  is  practically  the  longituoinal  center  of  our  dominion, 
lying  56  degrees  west  of  the  longitude  of  Eastport,  Me.  Taking  the 
fortieth  parallel  of  latitude  as  a  convenient  line  of  measurement, 
the  meridian  of  Eastport  is  3,000  nr  iles  east  of  that  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  the  meridian  of  Attoo  Island  3,400  miles  west  of  it,  in 
round  figures. 

Alaska  has  4,000  miles  of  sea  coast  and  25,000  miles  of  shore 
line,  1,100  islands,  sixty  volcanoes  that  have  erupted  since  Russian 
possession;  thermal  and  mineral  springs,  hot  marshes  and  warm 
lakes. 

Along  the  southeastern  coast  in  an  almost  continuous  chain  of 
precipitous  mountains,  from  3,000  to  5,000  feet  high,  but  rising 
much  higher  than  these  in  the  Mount  St.  Elias  and  White 
ranges.  Mount  Logan  is  19,500  feet  high.  From  Mount  St. 
Elias  west  to  the  extremity  of  Alaska  Peninsula,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  section  about  Cook  Inlet,  the  coast  region  is  very  broken 
and  mountainous,  although  the  mountains  are  not  so  precipitous 
as  in  the  southern  portion,  and  the  lumber  growth  becomes  smaller 
until  it  ceases  entirely  from  Kadiak  Island  westward. 

The  interior  beyond  the  coast  mountains  is  less  elevated  and 
contains  extensive  plains  and  hilly  country  about  Behring  Sea  and 
Arctic  Ocean.  The  vast  valley  of  the  Yukon  and  other  extensive 
river  systems  are  partly  wooded.  The  shore  is  deeply  indented 
with  inlets  or  sea  channels,  which  form  a  means  of  penetrating  the 
interior.  Some  of  these  salt  water  ways  are  supplemented  by  im- 
mense rivers  like  the  Yukon  and  its  branches,  the  Kuskokwim, 
the  Nushagak,  the  Copper,  the  Stikine,  Noyatak,  Colville  and 
Kowak. 

Glaciers  are  numerous  among  the  mountains  of  the  southern  and 
southeastern  portion;  and  the  frozen  tundra  lands  of  the  Arctic 
region  and  in.  the  Yukon  valley,  a  few  miles  back  from  the  river, 
afford  no  wood  or  timber  and  give  little  promise  of  future  cultiva- 
tion. 

Much  of  Alaska  is  terra  incognita,  and  so  far  as  the  white  man  is 
concerned  is  a  sealed  book.  Descriptions  of  the  country,  north  of 
Cook  Inlet,  are  based  on  the  conflicting  stories  of  the  natives,  who 
say  that  the  rivers  lead  into  lakes,  and  the  lak'-sare  connected  with 
other  lakes,  until  the  vraters  flow  into  the  basing  of  the  Tanana  and 
Yukon. 

The  forests  of  Alaska  form  a  prominent  feature  of  the  country. 
Along  the  coast  and  on  the  islands,  from  its  south-eastern  boundary 


TF^r 


HI 


r 


to  Kadiak  Island,  and  on  the  peninsula  opposite,  there  .  almost 
one  continuous  forest,  except  where  the  mountains  rise  to  a  height 
of  1,500  feet  or  more.  The  vast  region  of  the  interior  northward 
is  partially  covered  with  forests. 

The  Yukon  River  and  its  southeastern  branches,  including  the 
Klondike  region,  are  fringed  with  dense  forests,  while  to  the  north- 
ward the  growth  becomes  gradually  more  stunted  until  in  the  low 
country,  bordering  the  Behring  Sea  and  Arctic  Ocean,  it  disappears 
entirely.  Alder  bushes,  fringmg  the  streams,  and  driftwood,  fur- 
nish fuel,  except  what  wood  and  coal  are  transported.  The 
lumber  business  has  been  harassed  by  the  unfortunate  conditions  of 
land  titles,  and  most  of  this  lumber  is  transported  from  the  United 
States. 

CLIMATE,  SEASONS  AND  DAYS. 

In  judging  of  the  climate  of  Alaska,  careful  regard  must  be  had 
for  the  standpoint  of  the  observer.  In  a  vast  country  extending 
over  i6|"  of  latitude,  there  is  a  wide  opportunity  for  a  diversity  of 
statements.  A  governor  of  Alaska,  in  a  recent  government  report, 
says  the  climate  has  been  unjustly  abused ;  and  meteorological  reports 
made  from  the  latitude  of  Sitka  are  certainly  not  very  appalling. 
For  instance,  here  is  a  sample  year,  taken  at  random,  covering 
observations  made  on  the  U.S.S.  Pi;ita  at  Sitka  and  other  places  in 
southeastern  Alaska,  from  July  i,  1890,  to  June  30,  1891: 


!  TfZMPEKATUKK-. 


DAYS. 


I\ 


a 


> 
< 


1890,  July I  80 

"     August I  74 

' '     September |  70 

"     October '  66 

"     November 61 

■'     December 46 

l8qi,  January 57 

' '     February 59 

"     March ,  58 

"     April S9 

"     May ]  60 


June. 


51 
44 
42 
34 
34 
22 

32 
'7 


58.0 
56.5 
53-3 
45-8 
43.3 
35.1 
40.5 
34.5 


20  39.1 
33  i  43-4 
36     50.8 

63  !  48  1 56.5 


•o 

3 
O 


o        '  t 

r  "  I        Thunder  ami 
^f        'I         '  ightning. 


r  8 

15 

b  !| 

!;  17 

8 

6  1 

,   5 

2 

23 

i  II 

2 

10 

6 

3 

21 

II 

5 

15 

2 

5 

24 

:  17 

3 

8 

i  5 

10 

16 

12 

9 

9 

i  ifa 

7 

8 

l'5 

^3 

2 

26th  and  27th. 
5th  and  6th  .  . 


Observations  for  a  series  of  years  show  Sitka  to  be  even  warmer 
than  Portland,  Maine. 


10 


:i^> .-  \ 


there  .  almost 
rise  to  a  height 
;rior  northward 

3,  including  the 
ile  to  the  north- 
intil  in  the  low 
m,  it  disappears 
driftwood,  fur- 
isported.  The 
te  conditions  of 
om  the  United 


rd  must  be  had 
mtry  extending 
•r  a  diversity  of 
jrnment  report, 
■ological  reports 
very  appalling, 
idom,  covering 
other  places  in 
1891 : 


DAYS. 

f. 

^      Thunrler  and 
1         '  ightning. 

b 
6 

23 
rn 

26th  and  27th. 

?T 

t5 

24 

8 

5th  and  6th  . . 

6 

9 

8 

2 

)e  even  warmer 


SITKA,  lat.  57°  3' 

I'ORTI.ANl),    MK.,    lat.   43     39' 

Year. 

Lowest 

in 
Winter. 

Highest 

in 
Summer. 

Mean 
Summer. 

Mean 
Winter. 

Lowest 

in 
Winter. 

Highest 

in 
Summer. 

M  ean 
Summer. 

Mean 
Winter. 

1880.. 

—  3" 

—  6 

—  12 

I 

—  8 

—  6 
— 12 

—  15 
— 12 

—  8 

94' 

88 

f)4 
39 
89 
90 

94 

96 
96 
92 

68. 4' 

66.3 
63.7 
63. 0 
f'7-3 
65.7 
64.0 

65.5 
64.6 
65.0 

30.5° 

1881   . 

79' 

7" 

68 

75 
75 
72 
72 

54.4^ 

53-4 

52.1 

54.4 
56.3 

55.8 
52.5 

33- 5" 
36.8 

35.£' 
35.1 
34-4 
31.1 

1882.. 
1883.. 
X884.. 
1885.. 
1886.. 
1887.. 
1888.. 

4" 
8 
II 

15 
4 
3 

30.4 

25-3 
26.6 

25.1 
23-3 
21.3 
21.8 
26,4 

1889. 

During  forty-eight  years  of  official  record  at  Sitka,  the  tempera- 
ture did  not  go  above  90  or  lower  than  4  below  zero,  and  the  mean 
annual  temperature  ranged  from  41.30  to  46.8  degrees. 

But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Sitka  is  on  the  coast,  and  is 
under  the  influence  of  the  Japanese  current  of  warm  water  (called 
the  Kuro-Siwo)  which,  flowing  across  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  the 
tropical  region  of  the  eastern  hemisphere,  strikes  the  American 
coast  near  the  southern  boundary  of  Alaska,  and  is  deflected  in 
part  northward,  following  the  coast  in  its  sweeping  bend  westward 
and  southward  again.  This  ocean  current  produces  a  mild,  equable 
and  moist  climate  along  the  coast  from  Dixon  Entrance  [to  the  ex- 
treme western  end  of  the  Alaska  Peninsula,  and  beyond  to  the 
thousand  miles  of  Aleutian  Islands.  But  inland,  the  violent  ex- 
tremes of  temperature  are  shown  by  the  stunted  vegetable  growth 
or  its  entire  absence.  In  the  Yukon  Valley  the  thermometer  fre- 
quently registers  over  100  in  summer,  and  from  50  to  70  below 
zero  in  winter.  From  the  Yukon,  north,  there  are  almost  no  allevi- 
ating conditions.  The  earth  below  the  tundra  moss  remains  frozen 
perpetually.  Those  portions  of  land  lying  favorably  for  drainage 
produce  grass,  small  bushes,  beautiful  flowers,  and  an  abundance 
of  berries.  S.iow  does  not  accumulate  to  great  depth  in  this  region, 
and  there  is  little  rainfall.     Cyclones  are  unknown. 

On  the  coast,  in  the  region  of  the  Yukon,  the  temperature  varies 
from  70  above  in  summer  to  40  and  45  below  in  winter.  The  late 
summer  and  fall  are  usually  stormy  and  wet,  the  snowfall  being 
from  three  to  five  feet  on  a  level.  Navigation  is  closed  to  the  out- 
side seven  months  of  the  year  by  heavy  ice  on  the  sea.  The  Yukon 
is  closed  by  ice  from  September  to  the  end  of  May.     In  the  interior 


[ 


Yukon  region  the  climate  is  drier  with  greater  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold.  In  summer  the  temperature  rises  to  over  too  and  in  winter 
drops  to  60  or  70  below  zero.  Professor  Dall  records  a  tempera- 
ture of  112  in  the  shade  in  late  June  at  Fort  Yukon  and  reports 
traditions  of  thermometers  having  burst  in  efforts  to  gj  above  120. 
He  says  the  month  of  May,  June  and  part  of  July  are  generally  de- 
lightful, sunny,  warm  and  clear.  But  in  midsummer  the  only 
relief  from  the  intense  heat  under  which  vegetation  attains  an  almost 
tropical  luxuriance  is  during  the  brief  space  when  the  sun  hovers  on 
the  horizon  and  the  voyageur  or  laborer  welcomes  the  transient  cool- 
ness of  the  midnight  air.  In  July,  1897,  Archie  Burns,  a  miner, 
was  prostrated  with  sunstroke  while  crossing  the  pass  from  Dyea. 
He  recovered  and  proceeded  after  two  days'  rest. 

In  the  winter  of  1896-97,  according  to  the  record  kept  at  Fort 
Constantine,  the  temperature  in  the  Klondike  district  first  touched 
zero  November  loth,  and  the  zero  weather  recorded  in  the  spring 
was  on  April  29th.  Between  December  19th  and  February  6th  it 
never  rose  above  zero.  The  lowest  actual  point,  65  degrees  below, 
occurred  on  January  27th,  and  on  twenty-four  days  during  the 
winter  the  temperature  was  below  50  degrees.  On  March  12th  it 
first  rose  above  the  freezing  point,  but  no  continuous  mild  weather 
occurred  until  May  4th,  after  which  date  the  temperature  during 
the  balance  of  the  month  frequently  rose  above  60  degrees.  The 
Yukon  River  froze  up  on  October  28,  1896,  and  broke  up  on  May 
17,  1897. 

In  regard  to  the  length  of  the  day,  it  is  a  striking  commentary 
on  the  vast  extent  of  the  American  Republic  that  the  sun  rises  on 
our  easternmost  possessions  as  it  sets  on  our  westernmost.  In 
the  late  spring  and  early  summer  there  are  a  few  weeks  when  sun- 
rise in  Eastern  Maine  occurs  before  sunset  in  the  westernmost 
Aleutian  Islands,  distant  120°  of  longitude.  In  fact,  inasmuch  as 
the  extreme  northern  part  of  Alaska  is  within  the  Arctic  circle  there 
is  a  short  period,  near  the  summer  solstice,  when  there  is  daylight 
for  twenty-four  hours  a  day.  It  is  literally  the  Land  of  the  Mid- 
night Sun,  and  in  summer  a  man  can  work  almost  as  many  hours  a 
day  as  he  likes.  Labor  contracts  should  therefore  be  specific  on 
this  point,  for  the  benefit  of  both  employer  and  employ^. 

In  May,  voracious  flies  and  mosquitoes  appear  in  frightful  swarms, 
so  thick  as  to  look  like  smoke,  and  it  is  impossible  to  do  anything 
without  the  protection  of  a  netting  mask  and  gloves.  It  is  said 
that  men  have  been  driven  to  suicide  by  Alaskan  mosquitoes. 


1 2 


lil 


remes  of  heat  and 
loo  and  in  winter 
ecords  a  tempera- 
ukon  and  reports 
>  to  £  J  above  120. 
are  generally  de- 
summer  the  only 
1  attains  an  almost 
the  sun  hovers  on 
the  transient  cool- 
!  Burns,  a  miner, 
:  pass  from  Dyea. 

:ord  kept  at  Fort 
rict  first  touched 
ied  in  the  spring 
d  February  6th  it 
65  degrees  below, 
days  during  the 
On  March  12th  it 
lous  mild  weather 
mperature  during 
60  degrees.  The 
broke  up  on  May 

iking  commentary 
the  sun  rises  on 

westernmost.      In 

weeks  when  sun- 

the   westernmost 

act,  inasmuch  as 

Arctic  circle  there 
there  is  daylight 
Land  of  the  Mid- 
as many  hours  a 
ore  be  specific  on 
ployd. 

frightful  swarms, 
to  do  anything 
loves.  It  is  said 
nosquitoes. 


QAME. 

In  the  following  pages  prospectors  are  frequently  cautioned 
against  depending  upon  the  game  supply  of  the  gold  country  for 
their  subsistence.  The  further  up  the  Yukon  one  travels  the  scarcer 
becomes  the  food  supply,  until  in  the  Klondike  region  and  there- 
about it  ceases  almost  entirely.  There  is  practically  no  large  game, 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  moose  and  reindeer,  which  have 
become  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  herd  and  wandered  out  there. 
Reindeer  formerly  were  seen  in  very  large  numbers  on  the  Yukon, 
some  two  or  three  hundred  miles  from  where  the  Klondike  flows 
into  it,  and  a  gentleman  who  spent  two  or  three  winters  there 
several  years  ago  states  that  he  has  seen  a  herd  of  at  least 
5,000  reindeer  cross  the  river  on  the  ice  in  one  day.  He  also  saw 
moose  and  caribou  in  herds  of  large  number,  but  such  an  occur- 
rence is  unusual.  There  may  be  a  few  rabbits,  ducks  and  geese  in 
the  spring,  which  disappear  very  quickly.  Lower  down  the  Yukon, 
at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  there  is  abundance  of  game,  prob- 
ably from  400  to  500  miles  from  the  Klondike  River.  The  moose  is 
about  the  largest.  There  are  beavers  on  the  streams  and  various 
kinds  of  deer,  bear  and  caribou.  In  the  winter  months  these  go 
south  and  disappear  almost  entirely.  The  polar  bear  is  found 
several  degrees  further  north,  never  appearing  in  that  vicinity.  In 
the  mountain  streams  which  feed  the  Yukon  River  there  are  moun- 
tain trout  of  good  size  and  flavor.  Salmon  are  found  in  the  Yukon. 
It  was  while  salmon  fishing  that  Cormack  made  his  famous  Klon- 
dike discovery.  White  fish  are  found  near  the  Klondike,  and  can 
be  caught  through  the  ice  in  winter.  Early  in  the  spring  water 
fowl,  such  as  ducks,  geese  and  swan,  put  in  an  appearance,  but  they 

do  not  tarry  long. 

CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

Civil  Government  of  Alaska  was  instituted  by  act  of  Congress, 
approved  May  17,  1884,  called  the  Organic  Act;  but  it  is  a  very 
inadequate  measure,  and  Alaska,  although  called  a  Territory,  occu- 
pies an  anomalous  position.  She  has  no  representative  in  Congress, 
and  no  local  legislative  powers;  but  the  government  is  administered 
by  a  Governor,  a  United  States  district  judge,  a  United  States 
marshal,  a  clerk  of  court,  district  attorney,  collector  of  customs, 
(the  former  at  the  seat  of  government  at  Sitka)  and  United  States 
Commissioners  at  Sitka,  Juneau,  FortWrangel  and  Unalaska;  assisted 
by  eight  deputy  marshals,  five  deputy  collectors,  clerks,  justices  of 
the  peace,  notaries  public,  constables  and  native  police. 


13 


I 

II 


The  courts  consist  cf  the  United  States  district  court  and  four 
commissioners'  courts  at  Sitka,  Juneau,  Fort  Wrangel  and  Unalaska. 
There  is  an  inadequate  territorial  jail  at  Sitka,  and  little  "lock-ups" 
at  Juneau  and  Wrar.gel,  and  it  is  practically  impossible  to  confine 
malefactors  long  enough  to  mete  out  justice  to  them. 

The  forms  of  legal  procedure  are  enveloped  in  great  uncertainty, 
each  judge  doing  his  best  to  reconcile  the  Organic  Act  of  1884,  the 
Revised  Statutes  and  the  Code  of  Oregon  which  applies  to  Alaska. 

Across  the^interpational  boundary,  on  British  soil,  the  situation  is 
even  worse.  In  the  Klondike  district,  when  the  first  rush  took  place, 
there  was  an  utter  absence  of  governmental  regulation,  so  the  miners 
held  a  meeting  and  established  a  sort  of  government  of  their  own 
for  recording  claims.  Dominion  Surveyor  Wm.  Ogilvie  complains 
sorely  of  the  need  of  some  kind  of  a  court  to  settle  the  various  claim 
disputes  that  are  continually  arising  between  the  miners.  He  says 
that  the  force  and  virtue  of  miners'  meetings  prevailed  until  the  mount- 
ed police  made  their  appearance,  after  which  sneaks  had  full  swing. 

The  morality  of  the  Klondike  would  seem  to  be  of  a  much  higher 
order  than  is  usually  found  in  new  mining  camps,  the  presence  of 
the  mounted  police  seeming  to  have  a  most  salutary  effect.  Mr. 
Ogilvie  seems  to  regret  it  for  he  says: 

"The  man  who  was  stabbed  here  in  November  has  quite  re- 
covered, but  may  never  have  the  same  use  of  his  back  as  of  old, 
having  received  a  bad  cut  there.  His  assailant  is  out  on  bail,  await- 
ing the  entrance  of  the  judge  to  try  him.  As  the  police  are  here, 
there  will  be  no  lynching;  it  is  almost  a  pity  there  will  not." 

Mr.  Ogilvie  takes  up  the  subject  of  liquor,  saying:  "The 
impression  of  the  best  men  here,  saloon  men  and  all,  is  that  the 
liquor  trade  should  be  regulated,  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to 
bring  liquor  in  but  men  in  business  here  of  established  reputation 
and  having  an  interest  in  the  country;  and  that  the  retail  traffic 
should  be  licensed  as  in  Eastern  provinces,  to  men  of  fair  character 
only.  Now  any  loafer  who  can  gather  enough  money  to  secure  a 
few  gallons  and  a  few  glasses  and  wants  to  have  an  idle  time,  sets  up 
a  saloon.  It  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  imperative  that  the  business  be 
brought  under  control  at  once,  or  it  may  develop  phases  that  will 
be  at  least  annoying  in  the  future. " 

PUBLIC  LANDS   AND   LAND   LAWS. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  a  prospector,  investor  or  settler 
wants  to  know  about  Alaska  is  the  law  governing  the  acquisition  of 

14 


[\ 


strict  court  and  four 
angel  and  Unalaska. 
nd  little  "lock-ups" 
npossible  to  confine 
:hem. 

in  great  uncertainty, 
inic  Act  of  1884,  the 
1  applies  to  Alaska. 
1  soil,  the  situation  is 
first  rush  took  place, 
lation,  so  the  miners 
iment  of  their  own 
1.  Ogilvie  complains 
tie  the  various  claim 
le  miners.  He  says 
liled  until  the  mount- 
eaks  had  full  swing, 
be  of  a  much  higher 
ips,  the  presence  of 
alutary  effect.     Mr. 

mber  has  quite  re- 
his  back  as  of  old, 
is  out  on  bail,  await- 
:he  police  are  here, 
:re  will  not." 


lor,    saying: 


The 


and  all,  is  that  the 
lould  be  allowed  to 
tablished  reputation 
lat  the  retail  traffic 
en  of  fair  character 
money  to  secure  a 
an  idle  time,  sets  up 
that  the  business  be 
:lop  phases  that  will 

AWS. 

investor   or   settler 
g  the  acquisition  of 


titles  to  public  lands.  Owing  to  the  anomalous  position  which  the 
Territory  occupies  in  the  sisterhood  of  the  Union,  many  misunder- 
standings and  contentions  have  arisen,  and  the  General  Land  Office 
at  Washington  has  been  overwhelmed  with  inquiries  for  copies  of 
the  Public  Land  Law.  No  time  need  be  wasted  in  applying  to  the 
Government  for  copies  of  this  law,  for  it  is  not  applicable  to  Alaska, 
The  laws  which  are  applicable  are  these: 

First. — The  mineral  land  laws  of  the  United  States. 

Second. — Town-site  laws,  which  provide  for  the  incorporation  of 
town-sites  and  acquirement  of  title  thereto  from  the  United  States 
Government  by  the  town-site  trustees. 

Third. — The  laws  providing  for  trade  and  manufactures,  giving 
each  qualified  person  160  acres  of  land  in  a  square  and  compact  form. 

The  coal  land  regulations  are  distinct  from  the  mineral  regula- 
tions of  laws,  and  the  Jurisdiction  of  neither  coal  Jaws  nor  public 
latid  laws  extends  to  Alaska,  the  Territory  being  expressly  excluded 
by  the  laws  themselves  from  their  operation.  The  act  approved 
May  17,  1884,  providing  a  civil  government  for  Alaska,  has  this 
language  as  io  mines  and  mining  privileges: 

"The  laws  of  the  United  States  relating  to  mining  claims  and 
rights  incidental  thereto  shall,  on  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act, 
be  in  full  force  and  effect  in  said  district  of  Alaska,  subject  to  such 
regulations  as  may  be  made  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  ap- 
proved by  the  President,"  and  "parties  who  have  located  mines  or 
mining  privileges  therein,  under  the  United  States  laws  applicable 
to  the  public  domain,  or  have  occupied  or  improved  or  exercised 
acts  of  ownership  over  such  claims,  shall  not  be  disturbed  therein, 
but  shall  be  allowed  to  perfect  title  by  payment  so  provided  for." 

There  is  still  more  general  authority.  Without  the  special 
authority,  the  act  of  July  4,  1866,  says:  "All  valuable  mineral  de- 
posits in  lands  belonging  to  the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and 
unsurveyed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  free  and  open  to  exploration 
and  purchase,  and  lands  in  which  these  are  found  to  occupation  and 
purchase  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  by  those  who  have 
declared  an  intention  to  become  such,  under  the  rules  prescribed  by 
law  and  according  to  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners  in  the  several 
mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  not  inconsist- 
ent with  the  laws  of  the  United  States." 

The  land  law  of  Alaska,  or  rather  the  lack  of  land  law,  has  un- 
doubtedly served  as  a  positive  discouragement  to  the  settlement  of 
public  lands.     On  June  30,  1890,  the  real   estate  held  in  fee  in  the 


15 


:\ 


•i>v 


Territory  consisted  only  of  twenty-one  pieces,  originally  conferred 
under  Russian  rule,  consisting  of  twenty  small  lots  in  Sitka  and  one 
in  Kadiak;  certain  church  properties  in  Sitka  belonging  to  the  resi- 
dent congregation  of  the  Russian  church;  and  fourteen  mining 
claims  and  five  mill-sites  for  which  patents  had  been  issued  by  the 
United  States  under  its  mining  laws  which  have  been  extended  to 
Alaska.  Since  1890,  the  principal  titles  acquired  have  been  of 
mineral  lands,  which  are  practically  the  only  kind  of  real  estate  that 
it  is  possible  to  acquire  in  the  present  state  of  things.  Those  who 
venture  to  make  improvements  on  public  lands,  hoping  to  secure 
legislative  relief  afterward,  do  it  at  their  own  risk;  and  in  many 
cases,  such  as  the  taking  of  lumber,  the  suits  resulting  have  pretty 
effectually  discouraged  enterprise  and  the  development  of  trade  out- 
side of  furs  and  fish.  It  has  been  a  source  of  repeated  official  com- 
plaint by  the  Governors  of  Alaska  that  a  Territory  hitherto  exporting 
annually  about  $10,000,000,  and  with  the  immediate  prospect  of 
doubling  or  quadrupling  that  amount  when  the  mines  within  the 
American  border  are  developed,  should  be  so  shamefully  neglected. 

Said  a  Governor  of  Alaska  in  a  recent  report  to  Congress: 
**  Under  existing  laws,  no  legal  titles  to  lands,  except  mineral  lands 
for  mining  purposes,  can  be  secured  for  any  process  whatever. 
Every  resident  who  erects  a  shanty  to  protect  himself  and  his  family 
from  the  storms  of  winter  in  this  northern  latitude  is  a  trespasser 
and  liable  to  be  ejected  by  legal  process.  The  cutting  of  a  walking 
stick  or  the  gathering  of  wood  sufficient  to  boil  his  coffee  is  a  breach 
of  the  law  which  must  be  ignored  by  the  officers  sworn  to  faithfully 
execute  it.  One  who  comes  into  the  Territory  to  live  must  take  his 
chances  with  every  other  resident,  recognizing  the  fact  that  in 
places  remote  from  centers,  though  in  the  midst  of  savage  tribes, 
communication  with  the  authorities  is  impossible,  except  at  rare 
intervals;  and  when  informed  of  trouble  needing  immediate  atten- 
tion, the  civil  government  lacks  facilities  for  serving  processes  or 
affording  protection  so  that  long  delays  in  execution  constitute  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception." 

Unless  Congress  has  made  some  provision  since  another  Govern- 
or wrote  to  the  following  effect,  it  would  be  well  for  travelers  to 
Alaska  to  be  cautious  about  real  estate  investments.  "None  of 
the  many  hundred  actual  settlers  who  have  built  homes  for  them- 
selves in  the  several  villages  and  settlements  are  able  to  obtain 
titles  to  the  lots  they  have  occupied  and  improved.  Juneau  City 
presents  an  instance  where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  have 

16 


,  originally  conferred 
lots  in  Sitka  and  one 
)elonging  to  the  resi- 
and    fourteen  mining 
id  been  issued  by  the 
ave  been  extended  to 
ijuired   have  been  of 
nd  of  real  estate  that 
thinijs.     Those  who 
ds,  hoping  to  secure 
1  risk;  and  in   many 
ssulting  have  pretty 
opment  of  trade  out- 
epeated  official  com- 
ry  hitherto  exporting 
mediate  prospect  of 
lie  mines  within   the 
hamefuUy  neglected, 
report  to  Congress: 
ixcept  mineral  lands 
'  process   whatever, 
imself  and  his  family 
itude  is  a  trespasser 
cutting  of  a  walking 
lis  coffee  is  a  breach 
5  sworn  to  faithfully 
o  live  must  take  his 
g  the  fact    that   in 
1st  of  savage  tribes, 
ble,  except  at  rare 
g  immediate  atten- 
serving  processes  or 
ution  constitute  the 

ice  another  Govern- 
i^ell  for  travelers  to 
tments.  "  None  of 
t  homes  for  them- 
are  able  to  obtain 
)ved.  Juneau  City 
ids  of  dollars  have 


! 


I 


been  expended  in   laying   out  and  clearing  np  a  town  site  and  huild- 
•ng  upon  and  improving  grounds   to   which    ihe   occupants   have  no 
established  title  and  cannot  have  until  Congress  extends  to  the  Terri- 
tory at  least  some  of  the  provisions  of  the  general  land  law." 
I  niNING    CLAinS  AND  TAXRS. 

(S,;.-  itisc,  l:ri|,sh  Mining,  koi;iil,iti.iiis,  p    ,,j  ) 

Southeastern  Alaska  was  divichnl   into   three   recorcluur  .iistricts 
by  order  of  the  United  States   District  Court   on    February  6    ,SS8 
Ihe   recording    for   the    Sitka   district  is  done   by  the   clerk    of  the 
court  at  S.tka;  for  the  Juneau  district  by  the  United  States  Commis- 
sioner resident    at   Juneau,   and    for   the  Wrangell    district    by   the 
United  States  Commissioner  resident  at  Fort  Wranj^ell.      .^///  ;„i,n„x 
,/<ums  ar,  JiUJ  i„  //,,   reconlh^  district  w/wr,  located,  but  patents  must 
be  sent  to  the  land  ofue,  which  is  at  Sitka.    A  nver  claim  in  the  Yukon 
country  ,s  500  feet  in   the  direction  of  the  river,  and  from  bank  to 
bank,  provided  it  does  not  exceed  666  feet.      The  cost  of  recordinjr 
a  claim  is  §,5,  and  the  yearly  rental  $,00.     Claims  have  held  as  high 
as  lli;5o,ooo,  and  a  still  higher  price  has  been  refused  for  others 

On  July  22,  1897,  i„  the  House  of  Representatives,  Mr  Lacey 
asked  unanimous  consent  for  the  consideration  of  a  bill  creating  the 
office  of  Surveyor-General  for  Alaska  at  a  salary  of  $2,000,  and 
giving  the  President  the  discretion  of  dividing  the  Territory  into 
two  land  districts.  Consent  was  given,  and  Mr.  Shafroth,  of  Colo- 
rado, explained  that  under  present  conditions  many  miners  must 
travel  from  800  to  1,000  miles  to  Sitka  to  make  entries  of  their 
claims.  The  new  office  would  doubtless  be  located  in  the  Yukon 
district  m  the  vicinity  of  the  gold  field.     The  bill  was  passed 

Bearing  in  mind  that   the  Klondike  discoveries  are  across  the 
international  border  in  British  dominions,  the  following  remarks  by 
Dominion  Surveyor  William  Ogilvie  will  be  better  understood    After 
telhng  of  the  discovery  of  gold  there    in   1896  by  G    W    Cormack 
Mr.  Ogilvie  presages  considerable  trouble  and  confusion  in  the  near 
uture  from  the   lack  of  system  in   making  out  claims.     He  says- 
When  It  was  fairly  established  that  Bonanza  Creek  was  rich  in  gold 
-which  took  a  few  days,  for  Klondike  had  been  prospected  several 
times  with  no  encouraging  results-there  was  a  great  rush   from  all 
over  the  country  adjacent  to  Forty  Mile.      The  town  was  almost  de- 
serted;  men  who  had  been   in  a  chronic  state  of  drunkenness  for 
weeks  were  pitched  into  boats  as  ballast  and  taken  up  to  stake  them- 
selves a  claim,  and  claims  were  staked  by  men  for  their  friends  who 
were  not  m  the  country  at  the  time.     All  this  gave  rise  to  much 


^7 


■  II 


111 


L\     1 


ivv  s. 


V 


confliction  and  confusion,  there  being  no  one  to  take  charge  of  mat- 
ters. The  agent,  not  being  able  to  go  up  and  attend  to  the  thing, 
and  myself  not  knowing  what  to  do,  the  miners  held  a  meeting  and 
appointed  one  of  themselves  to  measure  off  and  stake  the  claims  and 
record  the  owners'  names,  for  which  he  got  a  fee  of  $2,  it  being,  of 
course,  understood  that  each  claimholder  would  have  to  record  his 
claim  with  the  Dominion  agent  and  pay  his  fee  of  $15.  I  am  afraid 
that  a  state  of  affairs  will  develop  in  the  Klondike  district  that  will 
worry  some  one.  Naturally,  many  squabbles  will  arise  out  of  those 
transactions  when  the  claims  come  to  be  considered  valuable  and 
worked,  and  those,  together  with  the  disputes  over  the  size  '<'  the 
claims,  will  take  some  time  to  clear  off.  Many  of  the  clainu-i  are 
said  to  be  only  300  and  400  feet  long,  and  of  course  the  holders  will 
insist  on  getting  the  full  500,  and  it  is  now  probably  impossible  that 
they  can  without  upsetting  all  the  claimholders  on  the  several  creeks. 
Many  of  them  will  be  reasonable  enough  to  see  things  in  their  proper 
light  and  submit  quietly,  but  many  will  insist  upon  what  they  call 
their  rights." 

On  July  28,  1897,  the  Canadian  Government  announced  that  it 
had  decided  to  impose  a  royalty  on  all  placer  diggings  in  the  Yukon 
district  in  addition  to  a  registration  fee  of  $15  and  $100  annual  as- 
sessment. The  royalty  will  be  ten  per  cent,  each  on  claims  with  an 
output  of  $500  or  less  and  twenty  per  cent,  on  every  claim 
yielding  above  that  amount  yearly.  Besides  this  royalty,  it  has 
been  decided  in  regard  to  all  fnture  claims  staked  out  on  other 
streams  and  ivers,  that  every  alternate  claim  should  be  the  property 
of  the  British  Government  and  should  be  reserved  for  public  pur- 
poses and  sold  or  worked  by  the  Government  for  the  benefit  of  the 
revenue  of  the  Dominion. 

Up  to  the  present  time  goods  carried  to  Klondike  by  Americans 
have  escaped  the  British  Customs  Collector,  but  this  is  to  be  stopped 
soon,  if  not  already  stopped,  and  every  pound  will  be  subject  to 
duty.  There  will  be  practically  no  exception,  and  the  duty  comes 
below  ao  per  cent,  on  but  few  articles.  On  most  of  the  goods  the 
duty  is  from  30  to  35  per  cent.,  and  in  several  instances  higher. 

Two  inspectors  of  the  Canadian  customs  service  are  going 
north  and  will  enforce  the  customs  laws,  establishing  themselves  on 
the  pass  that  leads  from  Dyea  into  the  Yukon  country.  The  num- 
ber of  these  inspectors  will  be  increased  as  the  traffic  demands.  The 
Canadian  Government  is  said  to  be  terribly  in  earnest  over  this  duty 
question. 

18 


1 


;ake  charge  of  mat- 
.ttend  to  the  thing, 
eld  a  meeting  and 
take  the  claims  and 
of  $2,  it  being,  of 

have  to  record  his 
f  $15.  I  am  afraid 
e  district  that  will 
II  arise  out  of  those 
dered  valuable  and 
)ver  the  size  f''   the 

of  the  clainis  are 
irse  the  holders  will 
ibly  impossible  that 
1  the  several  creeks. 
Iiings  in  their  proper 
upon  what  they  call 

;  announced  that  it 
;gings  in  the  Yukon 
ind  $100  annual  as- 
;h  on  claims  with  an 
:.  on  every  claim 
this  royalty,  it  has 
aked  out  on  other 
)uld  be  the  property 
red  for  public  pur- 
the  benefit  of  the 

Hdike  by  Americans 

his  is  to  be  stopped 

will   be  subject  to 

d  the  duty  comes 

ist  of  the  goods  the 

stances  higher. 

ervice     are    going 

ing  themselves  on 

ountry.     The  num- 

ffic  demands.    The 

nest  over  this  duty 


THE  BOUNDARY  QUESTION. 

A  number  of  letters  have  been  received  at  the  State  Department 
in  Washington  from  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  have  estab- 
lished mining  claims  in  the  disputed  territory  along  the  Alaska- 
British  Columbia  line.  The  writers  want  to  know  what  they  shall 
do  to  protect  ihemselves  if  the  British  Government  takes  possession 
of  the  property.  Every  such  letter  has  been  answered  by  tlu' 
information  that  a  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  (Ireat  Brit- 
ain is  pending  for  the  determination  of  the  Alaskan  boundary,  and 
that  its  consummation  will  be  followed  by  the  erection  of  monu- 
ments by  a  joint  British-American  Commission  to  locate  the  boun- 
dary. It  is  said  at  the  Department  that  the  British  Government  ha^ 
an  undoubted  right  to  prohibit  the  entrance  of  foreigners  to  the 
Klondike  fields.  Department  officials  believe,  however,  that  the 
right  will  not  be  exercised  against  Americans,  as  British  subjects  are 
not  prohibited  from  locating  mining  claims  in  the  Yukon  River 
country  on  the  American  side  of  the  boundary. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is  no  question  concerning 
the  location  of  the  international  boundary  or  the  Government  which 
has  jurisdiction  in  the  Klondike  region.  From  the  vicinity  of  Mt. 
St.  Elias  near  the  southern  coast,  the  boundary  runs  straight  to- 
ward the  North  Pole  along  the  141st  meridian  of  longitude.  What- 
ever is  east  of  it  (and  that  includes  the  whole  course  of  the  Klondike 
River,)  is  Great  liritain's.  Whatever  is  west  of  it  belongs  to  the 
United  States.  To  determine  the  question  of  jurisdiction,  therefore, 
one  has  but  to  make  the  necessary  observations  and  calculations  to 
determine  the  line  of  the  141st  meridian  of  longitude. 

The  portion  of  the  boundary  now  in  dispute  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  is  that  part  extending  from  Mt.  St. 
Elias  to  the  southern  extremity  at  Cape  Muzon.  The  problem  in  a 
nutshell  is  this:  We  bought  Alaska  from  Russia  in  1867.  Whatever 
belonged  to  Russia  then  belongs  to  us  now.  In  1825  Rus  la  and 
England  made  of  treaty  fixing  the  boundary  as  follows:  Commenc- 
ing the  southernmost  point  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island  "the  line 
shall  ascend  to  the  north  along  the  channel  called  Portland  channel 
as  far  as  the  point  of  the  continent  where  it  strikes  the  56th  degree 
of  north  latitude."  Thence  the  line  "  shall  follow  the  summit  of  the 
mountains  situated  parallel  to  the  coast,  as  far  as  the  point  of  intersec- 
tion of  the  141st  degree  of  west  longitude,  and  finally,  from  the  said 
point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degree,  in  its  prolongation  as  far  as 
the  frozen  ocean.     Wherever  tlie  summit  of  the  mountains  which  ex- 

•  19 


i 


tend  in  a  direction  parallel  to  a  coast,  from  the  56th  degree  of  north 
latitude  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degree  of  west  longi- 
tude, shall  prove  to  be  at  the  distance  more  than  ten  marine  leagues 
from  the  ocean,  the  limit  between  the  British  possessions  and  the 
line  of  coast  which  is  to  belong  to  Russia  as  above  mentioned,  shall 
be  formed  by  a  line  parallel  to  the  windings  of  the  coast,  and  which 
shall  never  exceed  the  distance  of  ten  marine  leagues  therefrom." 

Now,  the  Americans  claim  first  that  to  get  to  the  Portland  Channel 
the  line  must  first  run  east  from  Cape  Muzon,  which  is  the  southern 
extremity  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island;  while  the  British  claim  that 
the  line  should  start  north  from  that  point.  Secondly,  the  Ameri- 
cans claim  that  the  ten  league  line  should  measure  from  the  inmost 
coast  line  of  bays,  inlets,  etc.  ;  while  the  British  claim  it  should 
measure  from  the  main  channels  of  water.  These  two  contentions, 
if  granted,  would  give  Great  Britain  about  half  the  thirty-four  mile 
strip  of  southeastern  Alaska,  lying  east  and  south  of  Mount  St. 
Elias;  but,  as  before  said,  from  a  point  on  the  141st  meridian  ten 
leagues  from  the  southern  shore  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  there  is  nc 
controversy  at  all,  and  the  boundary  question  therefore  can  only 
affect  the  jurisdiction  over  the  passes  leading  into  the  Klondike  coun- 
try, not  the  Klondike  country  itself. 

THE  GOLD   BELT. 

The  most  successful  gold  mines  on  the  western  continent  lie 
within  a  mainland  belt  or  zone  running  southeast  and  northwest, 
beginning  in  Mexico  and  passing  in  almost  a  straight  line  to  the  Artie 
Ocean  at  Cape  Barrow.  Varying  from  2  to  20  miles  in  width,  it  em- 
braces some  of  the  best  mines  in  Mexico,  the  Western  States  and 
Alaska.  Douglass  Island,  Gold  Creek,  Berner's  Bay,  and  the  placer 
mines  of  the  Yukon  Valley  are  in  this  belt.  The  most  productive 
placers  on  Forty  Mile  and   Klondike  Creek,  lie  directly  in  its  path. 

The  existence  of  gold  in  Alaska  has  been  known  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  exploration  by  our  American  scientists.  The  first  min- 
ing camp  of  importance  in  Alaska  was  established  about  1876  at 
Shuck,  on  the  mainland,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine  river,  but  in 
1880  an  event  occurred  which  worked  a  wonderful  change  in  the  in- 
dustrial life  and  growth  of  Southeastern  Alaska.  A  French  halfbreed 
named  Joseph  Jimeau  discovered  gold  on  Douglass  Island,  and 
although  auriferous  quartz  veins  had  previously  been  known,  yet 
this  was  the  first  to  attract  large  capital  and  served  as  a  turning 
point  in  Alaskan  history. 

•0 


.•*.\ 


,^i; 


56th  degree  of  north 
degree  of  west  longi- 
in  ten  marine  leagues 
1  possessions  and  the 
ove  mentioned,  shall 
the  coast,  and  which 
;agues  therefrom." 
the  Portland  Channel 
vhich  is  the  southern 
he  British  claim  that 
iecondiy,  the  Ameri- 
sure  from  the  inmost 
tish  claim   it  should 
ese  two  contentions, 
the  thirty-four  mile 
south  of  Mount  St. 
■  141st  meridian  ten 
Ocean,  there   is  no 
therefore   can  only 
>  the  Klondike  coun- 


estern  continent  lie 
iast  and  northwest, 
ight  line  to  the  Artie 
liles  in  width,  it  em- 
Western   States  and 

Bay,  and  the  placer 
he  most  productive 

directly  in  its  path. 
)wn  almost  from  the 
ists.  The  first  min- 
shed  about  1876  at 
Stikine  river,  but  in 
ul  change  in  the  in- 

A  French  halfbreed 
uglass  Island,  and 
y  been  known,  yet 
erved  as  a  turning 


, 


The  best  known  mine  in  Alaska  previous  to  the  Klondike  dis- 
coveries was  the   Paris  or  Treadwell,  on  Douglass  Island,  2^  miles 
below  Juneau,  which   John  Treadwell  bought  for  $450  and  which 
between  1881  and  1890,  turned  out  over  $3,000,000. 

The  Bear's  Nest  mine,  adjoining  the  Treadwell,  was  sold  in  Lon- 
don for  $1,125,000,  but  owing  to  disagreements  between  the  stock- 
holders and  mining  engineers  it  was  abandoned  and  the  plant  dis- 
posed of  to  neighboring  mines. 

Mining  on  the  Yukon,  up  to  a  few  years  ago,  was  not  a  success. 
For  the  first  four  years,  after  the  first  excitement  in  1886,  few  indi- 
viduals took  out  more  than  $2,000  for  two  or  even  three  seasons  of 
hardships.  The  majority  of  miners  worked  on  their  prospects,  with 
a  heavy  account  against  them  to  the  store. 

niNING. 

The  Governor  of  Alaska,  in  his  annual  report  in  1891,  said  that 
many  discoveries  of  rich  ore  and  placer  deposits  had  been  made 
within  that  year  and  scores  of  locations  recorded  in  the  local  record- 
ing districts.  Eleven  applications  for  patents  had  been  filed  in  the 
land  office  at  Sitka  and  assessment  work  had  been  done  on  hundreds 
of  prospectors'  claims.  Since  then  great  strides  have  been  made  in 
mining  development. 

All  of  the  quartz  lodes  now  being  worked  are  near  the  coast 
namely:  the  Sheep  Creek  region;  Salmon  Creek,  near  Juneau;  Silver 
Bow  basin ;;Douglass  Island,  opposite  Juneau;  Fuhter  Bay  on  Admi- 
rahty  Island,  south  of  Douglass  Island;  Silver  Bay  oistrict  near 
Sitka;  Berner's  Bay  in  Lynn  Canal,  forty  or  fifty  miles  northwest  of 
Juneau;  Fish  River  district  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  across 
Norton  Sound;  Unga  Island,  1,400  miles  west  of  Sitka,  and' Lemon 
Creek. 

In  the  ten  quartz  lode  districts  mentioned  there  is  an  aggregate 
of  about  525  stamps,  nearly  half  of  which  belong  to  the  Alaska 
Treadwell  Gold  Mining  Company  on  Douglass  Island,  said  to  be  the 
largest  stamp  mill  in  the  world. 

Placer  mining  is  carried  on  in  eight  or  more  districts,  namely, 
the  Silver  Bow  Basin  near  Juneau;  Sum  Dum  and  Shuck,  some  dis- 
tance south;  LatuyaBay  on  Cross  Sound,  fifty  miles  southwest  of 
Juneau;  \akutat,  fifty  miles  southeast  of  Mount  St.  Elias;  Kenai 
Peninsula,  lying  cast  of  Cook  Inlet;  Fish  River  District  on  Norton 
Sound,  and  the  great  Yukon  district. 


ftl 


,!  I 


:i 


I 


THE  KLONDIKE  DISCOVERY. 

The  honor  of  discovering  the  richest  placer  mines  in  the  worl 
belongs  to  an  Illinois  man  named  George  Cormack,  who  went  t 
Alaska  eight  or  ten  years  ago.  In  July,  1896,  Cormack,  who  ha 
married  a  woman  of  the  Stick  tribe  and  was  living  with  his  family  o 
Takish  Lake,  was  devoted  to  catching  and  curing  salmon,  with  litt 
idea  of  the  great  upheaval  he  was  to  cause  in  a  few  months, 
preparation  for  the  annual  run  of  fish,  he  had  gone  down  the  Yuko 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike,  and  where  he  had  spread  h 
nets.  Half  a  mile  up  the  river  he  had  erected  a  birch  covered  she 
for  the  protection  of  his  catch.  Cormack  expected  to  sell  his  cro 
the  following  winter,  principally  for  dog  feed,  although  in  times  c 
a  food  famine,  as  really  occurred  last  winter,  dried  salmon  become 
a  staple  article  of  diet  for  white  men. 

At  that  time,  before  his  discovery,  Cormack  was  well-poste 
about  the  Upper  Yukon.  The  Klondike  had  been  known  for  severe 
years  to  drain  a  gold  country,  and  the  first  five  miles  of  it  had  bee 
indifferently  prospected,  but  the  gold  hunters  were  generally  ru 
out  by  bears.  If  the  miners  had  made  any  encouraging  finds  a 
the  outset  it  would  have  been  different,  but  all  other  things  bein 
equal,  in  their  estimation,  they  concluded  to  try  streams  where  th 
bears  were  not  so  aggressive.  And  it  happened  that  there  was  ; 
reason  for  the  bears  being  so  bad  in  that  particular  place,  as  it  i 
possibly  the  best  stream  for  salmon  of  all  the  tributaries  of  the  grea 
river.  The  fish  start  on  their  annual  'run'  some  two  or  three  week 
after  the  ice  goes  out,  usually  about  the  beginning  of  July.  The; 
come  by  millions.  The  river  is  turbulent  with  them.  They  crowi 
each  other,  and  jump  out  of  the  water,  and  the  Indians — and  like 
wise  the  bears — come  long  distances  to  give  them  a  welcome.  A 
every  tributary  some  of  the  salmon  turn  aside,  but  the  multitud 
press  onward  at  the  speed  of  about  a  hundred  miles  a  day.  Befor 
the  first  of  August  some  of  them  may  usually  be  found  above  Whit 
Horse  Rapids,  2,200  miles  from  the  Delta. 

But  to  return  to  the  Klondike — up  to  last  summer,  when  Coi 
mack  was  catching  his  salmon,  the  Indians  and  the  bears  had  mad 
a  more  or  less  harmonious  division  of  the  territory.  The  redskin 
maintain  their  foothold  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  they  tak 
the  salmon  in  nets  and  dry  them  in  sufficient  quantities  to  last  th 
whole  year.  Bruin  adopts  divers  way  of  securing  the  fish,  but  the; 
are  so  plentiful  that  he  gets  all  he  wants  while  they  last.  After  th 
salmon   season  his  living  is  precarious,  and   he  probably  regards 

aa 


5RY. 

ir  mines  in  the  world 
lormack,  who  went  to 
)6,  Cormack,  who  had 
k^ingwith  his  family  on 
ing  salmon,  with  little 
in  a  few  months.  In 
gone  down  the  Yukon 
ere  he  had  spread  his 
d  a  birch  covered  shed 
ected  to  sell  his  crop 
although  in  times  of 
dried  salmon  becomes 

mack  was  well-posted 
)een  known  for  several 
/e  miles  of  it  had  been 
:rs  were  generally  run 

encouraging  finds  at 
all  other  things  being 
try  streams  where  the 
led  that  there  was  a 
articular  place,  as  it  is 
tributaries  of  the  great 
me  two  or  three  weeks 

nning  of  July.     They 

h  them.  They  crowd 
the  Indians — and  like- 
them  a  welcome.     At 

de,  but  the  multitude 

miles  a  day.     Before 

be  found  above  White 

St  summer,  when  Cor- 
d  the  bears  had  made 
ritory.  The  redskins 
river,  where  they  take 
t  quantities  to  last  the 
ring  the  fish,  but  they 
i  they  last.  After  the 
he  probably  regards  a 


stray   miner    now   and    then — or   an    Indian — as   a  dispensation  of 
Providence. 

While  Cormack  was  fishing,  like  many  a  disciple  of  Izaak  Walton, 
he  kept  his  wits  and  work  and  did  a  lot  of  thinking;  and  he  made  up 
his  mind  that  as  soon  as  the  salmon  season  was  over  he  would  pros- 
pect up  the  Klondike.  P'our  weeks  later  he  took  two  Indians  and 
started  up  the  stream.  After  a  few  miles  of  laborious  pulling 
against  a  rapid  current  they  turned  into  the  first  considerable  trib- 
utary that  came  in  from  the  right,  called  Bonanza  Creek.  Here 
conditions  were  favorable  for  prospecting,  the  water  being  shallow, 
and  they  found  gold  in  encouraging  quantities  on  the  bars  of  the 
creek.  They  followed  the  windings  of  this  stream  for  twenty  or 
twenty-five  miles  before  they  made  locations  and  went  to  work. 

The  results  were  almost  enough  to  turn  the  brain  of  a  prospector 
who  had  searched  for  many  years  in  the  hope  of  finding  gravel  that 
would  yield  a  few  grains'  weight  of  gold  to  the  pan.  Here  at  a  depth 
of  three  feet  in  the  low  bars  by  the  creek  they  found  dirt  that  carried 
a  dollar  to  the  pound  in  coarse,  ragged  bits  of  gold.  Others  have 
since  found  diggings  tenfold  richer.  Cormack  was  almost  beside 
himself  with  excitement.  If  he  had  rubbed  Aladdin's  wonderful 
lamp  he  could  not  have  been  more  surprised  at  the  revelation.  In 
three  weeks  he  had  taken  out  $1,400  with  three  sluice  boxes. 

Remote  as  his  discovery  was,  Cormack  was  not  long  to  remain 
in  sole  possession  of  it.  With  the  exhaustion  of  their  few  days'  pro- 
visions, the  two  Indians  were  sent  back  to  the  village  for  supplies, 
and  soon  the  news  was  bruited  about.  The  creek  was  soon  staked 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  all  the  small  gulches  were  also  staked 
and  recorded.  About  September  10,  a  man  of  the  name  of  Whipple 
prospected  a  creek  em.ptying  into  the  Bonanza  and  named  it  Whipple 
Creek.  He  shortly  afterward  sold  out  and  the  miners  renamed  it 
Eldorado. 

The  steamboat  J°.  B.  IVeare,  one  of  a  fleet  of  three  belonging 
to  a  Chicago  company,  makes  three  or  four  trips  during  the  short 
summer  season  from  St.  Michael's,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon, 
to  Circle  City  and  Forty  Mile,  the  distance  to  the  latter  place  being 
nearly  1,800  miles  from  St.  Michael's.  One  of  these  trips  of  the 
IVeare — the  first  usually — is  extended  about  200  miles  further  up 
the  river  to  carry  supplies  to  Sixty  Mile  and  Fort  Selkirk,  where 
there  are  trading  posts.  About  the  middle  of  August,  1896,  when 
the  Weare  arrived  at  the  Indian  village,  which  is  about  half-way 
between  Forty  Mile  and  Sixty  Mile,  the  Indians  were  waiting  there 


23 


1  \ 


F''i 


f  ! 


\ 


Hi; 
1-.  ■, 


to  lay  in  their  supplies.  There  were  also  several  other  prospectors| 
who  had  happened  along,  and  Corirack's  discovery  was  common  talk. 
The  stories  of  fortune  proved  a  little  too  much  for  the  crew  of  thel 
Weare  to  withstand.  They  deserted  in  a  body  and  joined  the  rush 
to  the  new  ^old  fields.  The  captain,  after  being  delayed  three  or 
four  days,  got  an  Indian  crew  sufficiently  trained  to  handle  the 
boat.  When  he  arrived  at  Forty  Mile  on  his  return  the  reports  were 
alluring  enough  to  impel  a  hundred  or  more  men  to  start  at  once  for 
the  new  field. 

It  soon  became  known  that  this  was  probably  the  richest  placer 
ever  known  in  the  world.  Miners  took  out  gold  so  fast  and  so  much 
of  it  that  they  did  not  have  time  to  weigh  it  with  gold  scales.  They 
took  steelyards,  and  all  the  syrup  cans  were  filled. 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  common  fame.  Forty  Mile,  Circle  City 
and  other  localities  in  the  neighborhood  were  deserted  as  if  stricken 
by  a  plague,  and  everybody  rushed  madly  for  the  Klondike  as  if 
fleeing  from  the  wrath  to  come.  It  took  months  for  the  news  to 
reach  the  outer  world,  and  months  more  before  people  would  believe 
the  fabulous  tales.  And  thus  eleven  months  elapsed,  from  Cormack's 
first  phenomenal  discovery,  before  the  country  became  possessed  of 
the  extraordinary  excitement  which  stirs  it  at  this  writing  (August, 
1897),  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

Dr.  C.  F.  Dickenson,  who  arrived  in  San  Francisco  July  23d  from 
Kadiak  Island,  which  lies  opposite  the  entrance  of  Cook  Inlet  on 
the  southern  coast  of  Alaska,  says  that  the  gold  excitement  all  over 
the  Territory,  in  consequence  of  the  Klondike  discoveries,  is  some- 
thing unprecedented,  and  people  are  flocking  to  the  Klondike  in  a 
way  that  threatens  to  depopulate  many  of  the  trading  posts  and  the 
coast. 

"When  I  left  Kadiak  two  weeks  ago,"  said  Dr.  Dickensen, 
the  people  were  leaving  all  that  section  of  the  country  and  flocking 
in  the  direction  of  the  Klondike.  In  a  way  the  situation  is  appal- 
ling, for  many  of  the  industries  were  left  practically  without  the 
means  of  operation.  Mines  that  are  paying  handsomely  at  Cook's 
Inlet  have  been  deserted.  In  my  opinion  there  are  just  as  good 
placer  diggings  to  be  found  at  Cook's  Inlet  as  in  the  Klondike 
region.  There  is  not  a  foot  of  ground  in  all  that  country  that 
does  not  contain  gold  in  more  or  less  appreciable  quantities.  The 
great  trouble  has  been  that  people  have  not  had  either  the  courage 
or  the  opportunity;  I  do  not  know  which,  thoroughly  to  prospect 
the   country.     In  think   that  in  another   month  the   country  about 

84 


;ral  other  prospectors 
ery  was  common  talk. 
h  for  the  crew  of  the 
y  and  joined  the  rush 
\ng  delayed  three  or 
ained  to  handle  the 
turn  the  reports  were 
n  to  start  at  once  for 

y  the  richest  placer 
I  so  fast  and  so  much 
h  gold  scales.  They 
:d. 

rty  Mile,  Circle  City 
Jserted  as  if  stricken 
the  Klondike  as  if 
ths  for  the  news  to 
)eople  would  believe 
sed,  from  Cormack's 
)ecame  possessed  of 
bis  writing  (August, 

Cisco  July  23d  from 
:  of  Cook  Inlet  on 
excitement  all  over 
liscoveries,  is  some- 
the  Klondike  in  a 
ding  posts  and  the 

lid  Dr.  Dickensen, 
oiintry  and  flocking 
i  situation  is  appal- 
:tically  without  the 
dsomely  at  Cook's 
;  are  just  as  good 
s  in  the  Klondike 
that  country  that 
:  quantities.  The 
either  the  courage 
ughly  to  prospect 
:he   country  about 


} 


Cook's  Inlet  will  be  practically  deserted.  There  is  room  there  for 
thousands  of  men,  and  there  is  certainly  no  better  place  in  the 
world  for  a  poor  man." 

LOCATION  AND  HEANING  OF  THE    "KLONDIKE." 

The  Klondike  river,  on  one  of  the  tributaries  of  which  Cormack 
made  h,s  original  strike,  is  a  comparatively  small  stream,  flowing 
southwestwardly,  and  emptying  into  the  Yukon  about  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  east  of  the  Alaskan  boundary.  The  whole  course  of 
the  Klondike  lies  in  British  territory.  The  town  of  Dawson  has 
sprung  up  at  its  mouth.  One  of  the  tributaries  of  that  stream  is 
Bonanza  Creek,  which  discharges  into  the  Klondike  about  three 
miles  above  the  latter's  mouth.  The  Eldorado,  now  celebrated  for 
.ts  rich  deposits,  is  a  branch  of  Bonanza  Creek.  In  what  is  known 
as  the  Bonanza  district,  fully  three  hundred  claims  have  been  staked 
out.  Hunter  Creek  is  another  tributary  of  the  Klondike,  and  has 
given  Its  name  to  a  district  in  which  two  hundred  more  claims  have 
been  staked  out. 

Harold  B.  Goodrich,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  who  was  one  of  a  party 
sent  by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  in    X896  to  investigate 
the  gold  fields  of  Alaska,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  ' 
name  Klondike  is  a  miner's  corruption  of  the  Indian  "Thronduik  " 
which  means  "  water  full  of  fish."     The  little  river  bearing  the  name 
has  from  time  immemorial   been   a  favorite  fishing  ground  for  the 
gens  des  Iwis,  who  meet  at  its  mouih  and   wait  for  the  salmon  to 
ascend  every  June.     The  old  name,  Reindeer  River,  was  given  by 
L.eut.  Frederick   Schwatka  in    1883,  and   on  all  the  United  States 
coast  survey  charts  since   then   that  have  appeared.     In  the  forth- 
coming  Government    report  of   the   Geological    Survey,    the  name 
will  be  spelled  "Clondike."     The  official  report  of  Dominion   Sur- 
veyor William    Ogilvie   confirms  Mr.    Goodrich.      He    says-    "The 
name  Klondike  is  a  mispronunciation  of  the  Indian  word  or  words 
Thron-dak  or  duick,  which  means  plenty  of  fish,  from  the  fact  that 
>t  IS  a  famous  salmon  stream.     It  is  marked  Tomdak  on  our  maps." 

FORTUNES   MADE   IN  A    DAY. 

The  stories  of  the  wonderful  riches  made  in  a  day  in  this  district 
would  be  incredible  if  not  authenticated  in  many  ways.  Here  are 
a  few  of  the  fortunes  taken  out  by  Cormack's  successors,  as  reported 
on  reliable  authority.  While  the  amounts  may  not  be  accurate  to  a 
dollar,  they  are  doubtless  approximately  true. 


as 


i .-,  1 


[ 


;\ 


';l 


'Si 


I 


Anderson,  Henry,  $65,000. 

Berry,  Clarence,  bought  his  partners'  claims  for  $95,000  an 
cleaned  up  $140,000  on  his  winter  dump  alone. 

Brannon,  C.  A.,  $7,000. 

Clemens,  Chas.,  of  Los  Angles,  a  tenderfoot  without  experi 
panned  out  $5,000  and  sold  his  claim  for  $35,000. 

Clements,  J.  J.,  brought  out  $50,000  in  June  and  left  $12 
more  invested. 

Culbertson,  E.  M.,  of  Seattle,  writes  from  Klondike  of  one 
that  washed  out  $150,000  in  one  day. 

Gray,  Albert,  $6,000. 

Hatterman,  J.  J.,  $12,500. 

Hornblower,  Gec^e,  of  Indianapolis,  aged  21,  found  a  n\ 
worth  $5,700;  took  out  $100,000  in  four  months. 

Keeler,  Frank,  $50,000. 

Kelly,  T.  J.,  $33,000. 

Lippy,  Prof.  T.  C. .  of  Seattle,  has  taken  out  $50,000  since 
fall  and  has  $150,000  more  in  sight.  His  claim  is  value 
$350,000. 

Lord,  Joe,  $3,500. 

Loveland,  C.  H,,  $8,500. 

McNulty,  R.,  $20,000. 

Mercer,  N.,  $15,000. 

Moffett,  John  R.,  $9,000. 

Moran,  T.,  $13,000. 

Moss,  Frank,  Dubuque,  la.,  $6,000. 

Myers,  C.  D.,  $6,000, 

Stanley,  Wm.,  brought  out  $112,000  in  June. 

Summers,  Frank,  a  tenderfoot  from  Los  Angles,  went  in 
winter  and  has  sold  his  claim  for  $50,000.  He  found  one  nt 
worth  $232. 

Tuttle,  Capt.  Francis,  of  revenue  cutter  Bear,  saw  a  man, 
30,  who  a  year  ago  was  a  deck-hand,  and  who  now  comes 
Klondike  with  $150,000  in  nuggets. 

Wall, ,  has  all  he  wants  and  comes  out  after  sellin] 

claim  for  $50,000. 

Wiborg,  Peter,  bought  his  partner's  claim  for  $42,000. 

Jimmy  McLain  took  out  $11,000  during  the  winter,  just  in 
pecting  the  dirt.     Clarence   Berry  and  his  partner,  Anton  Stai 
panned  out  about  the  same  in  the  same   manner.     Mrs.  Berry 
to  go  down  to  the  dumps  every  day   to  get  dirt  and  carry  t( 

26 


3 


claims  for  $95,000  and  has 
alone. 

lerfoot  without  experience, 

$35,000. 

in  June  and   left  $125,000 

rom  Klondike  of  one  claim 


aged  21,  found  a  nugget 
months. 


en  out  $50,000  since  last 
His   claim    is   valued    at 


1  June. 

Los    Angles,  went    in  last 

•.     He  found  one  nugget 

er  Bear,  saw  a  man,  June 
nd  who  now  comes  from 

mes  out  after  selling  his 

lim  for  $42,000, 
g  the  winter,  just  in  pros- 
5  partner,  Anton  Stander. 
lanner.     Mrs.  Berry  used 
jet  dirt  and   carry  to  the 


shanty  and  pan  it  herself.  She  has  over  $6,000  taken  out  in  that 
manner.  Mr.  Lippin,  from  Seattle,  has  a  rich  claim,  and  his  wife 
has  a  sack  of  nuggets  worth  $6,000  that  she  has  picked  up  on 
the  dumps.  Four  boys  on  a  "lay"  in  Eldorado  took  out  $49,000 
in  four  months.  Frank  Phiscater,  who  owned  the  Grand,  had 
some  men  hired  and  cleaned  up  $94,000  for  the  winter.  Mr. 
Lippin  cleaned  up  $54,000.  Louis  Rhodes,  No.  25  Bonanza, 
cleaned   up  $40,000. 

One  claim  yielded  $90,000  in   forty-five  feet  up  and  down  the 
Klondike  stream. 

Steamer  Bertha  landed  $20,000  worth  of  gold  from  Unga  Island 
at  San  Francisco,  July  22d. 

Steamer  Weare  ianded  about  $1,000,000  at  St.  Michael  from 
the  Yukon  June  27th. 

Steamer  Excelsior  is  expected  to  land  in  San  Francisco  about 
September  sth,  with  between  $5,000,000  and  $6,000,000. 

Single  pans  of  dirt  in  the  Klondike  have  yielded  hundreds  of  dol- 
lars. One  is  said  to  have  run  up  to  $1,500.  The  owner  of  one  claim 
reports  that  his  dirt  paid  him  $250  an  hour.  B.  W.  Shaw,  formerly 
a  well-known  insurance  man  of  Seattle,  has  written  a  letter  to  a 
business  man  of  Seattle,  in  which  he  states  frankly  that  he  does  not 
expect  to  be  believed.  "This  is  a  great  mining  strike,"  says  Shaw, 
"probably  the  greatest  on  the  American  continent  or  in  the  world. 
Some  of  the  pay  streaks  are  nearly  all  gold.  One  thousand  dollars 
to  the  pan  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  and  as  high  as  100  ounces 
have  been  taken  out  in  a  single  pan.  It  is  not  unusual  to  see  men 
coming  in  with  all  the  gold  dust  they  can  carry." 

Henry  Hettler,  brother  of  (ieorge  Hettler  of  Altoona,  Pa., 
who  disappeared  mysteriously  one  year  ago,  writes  from  Alaska 
that  he  has  found  a  large  fortune  in  the  Klondike.  He  was  for- 
merly a  member  of  the  Allegheny  City  Council. 

OUTPUT  OF  GOLD  FOR  1896. 

The  output  of  the  mines  of  Alaska  is  difficult  of  estimation.  The 
vastness  of  the  mining  territory,  the  extremely  migratory  character 
of  its  population  and  the  entire  absence  of  reports  and  statistics 
from  a  great  part  of  the  smaller  camps  render  it  a  very  difficult 
matter  to  arrive  at  a  statement  approximating  correctness  except  by 
careful  study  and  watchful  attention  to  every  detail.  The  following 
estimate  is  the  result  of  just  such  work,  and  is  believed  to  be  as 
nearly  correct  as  is  possible  and  still  represent  fully,  yet  conserv- 


87 


fr-ifiri-iimifl'M4<jM 


\ 


m  1 


atively,  the  production  of  gold  in   Alaska   during  1896,  before  th| 
recent  Klondike  discoveries: 

Nowell  Ciold  Mining  Company,  35  stamps $160,000 

Berner's  Hay  Mining  and  Milling  Company,  40  stamps.    . .  i25,oo<5 

Alaska  Tread  well  Gold   Mining  Company,  240  stamps Soo.ooo 

Alaska  Mexican  Gold  Mining  Company,  120  stamps 450,000 

Alaska  Commercial  Company,  40  stamps 500,000 

Bald  Kagle  Mining  Company,  4  stamps 200,000 

Ebner  Gold  Mining  Company,  10  stamps 35,000 

Juneau  Gold  Mining  Company,  30  stamps 35, 000 

Julian  Gold   Mining  Company,  10  stamps 20,000 

Alaska  Willoughby  Gold  Mining  Company,  10  stamps 15,000 

Green  mine,  Norton  Sound,  10  stamps 1 5,000 

Total  output  of  quartz  mines $2,355,000 

Lituya  bay  placer  mines 15,000 

Cook  Inlet  placer  mines 175,000 

Birch  creek  district,  Yukon  mines .  .      1,300,000 

Other  Yukon  districts 800,000 

From  several  small  creeks  in  various  parts  of  the  territory,         25,000 

Total  output.      . .    $4,670,000 

ESTIHATED  OUTPUT  OF  GOLD  FOR  1897. 

C.  B.  Mcintosh,  Governor  of  the  British  Northwest  Territory, 
who  is  in  Seattle,  freely  subscribes  to  the  truthfulness  of  the  stories 
sent  out  asfto  the  richness  of  the  new  diggings.  He  estimates  that 
the  Klondike  and  its  tributaries  yielded  over  $3,000,000  in  gold  last 
winter.  Of  this  amount,  he  says,  $2,000,000  and  upward  came  to 
the  United  States,  via  the  steamships  Portland  and  Excelsior,  while 
more  than  $1  000,000  in  dust  is  now  stored  away  in  the  cabins  of 
miners  along  the  creek  being  developed.  He  predicts  that  the 
British  Yukon  yield  of  gold  for  1897,  will  not  be  less  than 
$10,000,000. 

B.  W,  Shaw,  formerly  of  Seattle,  after  seeing  five  five-gallon  oil- 
cans full  of  gold  Jdust  in  one  cabin,  the  result  of  two  men's  work 
during  the  winter  and  judging  from  other  signs,  predicts  an  output 
of  $50,000,000  for  1897. 

VAST  TREASURES  YET  UNTOUCHED. 

Whence  comes  the  gold  found  in  the  gravel  beds  and  bars  of  the 
Klondike,  Forty  Mile  and  other  tributaries  of  the  Yukon,  and  in  the 
auriferous  sand  dunes  of  the  North  Pacific  coast  in  the  region  of  the 
great   glaciers  ?     On  Yakutat  Bay,  one  has  but  to  gather  up  the 

28 


ing  1896,  before  the 


.....  $160, noo 

nps.    . .  125,000 

Ds 800,000 

i 150,000 

500,000 

200,000 

35.000 

35. 000 

20,000 

ips 15,000 

15,000 

$3,355,000 

15,000 

175,000 

......      1,300,000 

800,000 

territory,         25,000 

$4,670,000 

FOR  1897. 

Northwest  Territory, 

fulness  of  the  stories 

He  estimates  that 

,000,000  in  gold  last 

and  upward  came  to 

and  Excelsior,  while 

way  in  the  cabins  of 

e  predicts  that  the 

1    not   be    less    than 

|g  five  five-gallon  oil- 
It  of  two  men's  work 
Is,  predicts  an  output 


JCHED. 

)eds  and  bars  of  the 

^e  Yukon,  and  in  the 

in  the  region  of  the 

It  to  gather  up  the 


black  sand  on  the  shore  to  work  gold  in  paying  quantities.  Mani- 
festly, these  deposits  can  come  from  no  other  source  than  rich  quartz 
veins  in  the  mountains  where  it  was  originally  imbedded,  and  whence 
it  has  been  worn  out  and  carried  to  its  present  resting  places  by 
the  action  of  the  weather,  water  and  ice.  The  most  effective  agents 
have  been  the  glaciers,  which  are  simply  great  rivers  of  ice,  moving 
slowly  but  irresistibly,  and  grinding  up  the  rocks  and  carrying  the 
sands,  gravel  and  bowlders  down  into  the  gulches  and  streams. 
For  the  present,  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  the  placer  deposits 
in  the  interior  and  the  difficulty  and  expenseof  getting  in  machinery, 
quartz  mining,  as  before  stated,  is  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
coast;  but  it  is  apparent  from  all  evidence  that  there  are  vast  secret 
treasures  yet  lying  hidden  in  the  hearts  of  the  interior  mountains, 
and  that  the  stimulus  given  by  the  Klondike  excitement  will  result 
in  such  enterprise  as  will  develop  a  golden  era  for  Alaska  past  any 
comparison. 

Prof.  W.  H.  Dall  says  on  the  subject:  '•  1  .le  gold-bearing  belt 
of  Northwestern  America  contains  all  the  gold  fields  extending  into 
British  Columbia.  The  Yukon  really  runs  along  in  that  belt  for 
five  or  six  hundred  miles.  The  bed  of  the  main  river  is  in  the  low- 
land of  the  valley.  The  yellow  metal  is  not  found  in  paying  quan- 
tities in  the  main  river,  but  in  the  small  streams  which  cut  through 
the  mountains  on  either  side.  These  practically  wash  out  the  gold. 
The  mud  and  mineral  matter  are  carried  into  the  main  river,  while 
the  gold  is  left  on  the  rough  bottoms  of  these  side  streams.  In 
most  cases  the  gold  lies  at  the  bottom  of  thick  gravel  deposits.  The 
gold  is  covered  by  frozen  gravel  in  the  winter.  During  the  summer, 
until  the  snow  is  melted,  the  surface  is  covered  by  muddy  torrents. 
When  the  snow  is  all  melted,  and  the  springs  begin  to  freeze,  the 
streams  dry  up.  At  the  approach  of  winter,  in  order  to  get  at  the 
gold,  the  miners  find  it  necessary  to  dig  into  the  gravel  formation. 

"Formerly  they  stripped  the  gravel  off  until  they  came  to  the 
gold.  Now  they  sink  a  shaft  to  the  bottom  of  the  gravel,  and  tun- 
nel along  underneath  in  the  gold-bearing  layer.  The  way  in  which 
this  is  done  is  interesting,  as  it  has  to  be  carried  on  in  cold  weather 
when  everything  is  frozen.  The  miners  build  fires  over  the  area 
where  they  wish  to  work,  and  keep  these  lighted  over  that  territory 
*or  the  space  of  about  twenty-four  hours.  Then  at  the  expiration 
of  this  period  the  gravel  will  be  melted  and  softened  to  a  depth  of 
perhaps  six  inches.  This  is  then  taken  off,  and  other  fires  built 
until  the  gold-bearing  layer  is  reached.     When  the  shaft  is  down 


29 


n 


wm 


I       I 


'\ 


l!;fti 


.N 


1 

1 

%  1 

! 

i              Plj: 

1              iih 

Si 

'. 

w 

that  far  fires  are  built  at  the  bottom,  against  the  sides  of  the  layt 
and  tunnels  made  in  this  manner.      Blasting  would  do  no  good, 
account  of  the   hard  nature  of   the  material,  and  the  charge  Woul 
blow  out  just  as  out  of  a  gun.     The  matter  taken  out  containing  tl 
gold  is  piled  up  until  spring,  when  the  torrents  come  down,  and 
panned  and  cradled  by  these.     It  is  certainly  very  hard  labor." 

NEIQHBORINQ  ATTRACTIONS. 

While  the  Klondike  is  the  focus  of  popular  excitement  just  no\ 
the  probability  is  that  old  districts,  temporarily  deserted,  and  ne| 
districts   as    yet  unheard  of,   will  soon  share  the  attention  of  tl 
public. 

Information  comes  that  several  strikes  have  recently  been  mad 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Forty  Mile.  It  has  been  named  Minut 
Creek,  and  is  now  panning  out  $22  a  day  to  the  man.  Another  dii 
covery  on  American  Creek,  fifty  miles  below  Forty  Mile  Camp,  i 
said  to  be  paying  well,  and  a  great  number  of  men  have  flocke 
there  during  the  last  few  weeks.  The  pan  runs  from  $10  to  $18 
It  is  thought  likely  that  many  of  the  prospectors  will  strike  for  thes 
camps,  thus  relieving  the  strain  on  Dawson  City. 

Just  as  these  pages  go  to  press,  news  is  received  of  wonderfull; 
rich  quartz  in  large  quantities  on  the  Stewart  River.  Particular 
are  vague,  and  beyond  the  fact  that  the  ledge  is  a  large  one,  anc 
that  the  rock  assays  $300,  nothing  can  be  learned.  This,  if  true 
will  mean  much  for  the  Klondike  district.  The  report  confirms  th( 
theory  advanced  in  the  preceding  pages,  to  the  effect  that  the  rougl 
placer  gold  indicates  a  rich,  original  source  of  quartz  veins  not  fa 
distant.  The  Stewart  River  runs  into  the  Yukon  not  far  above  Daw 
son,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  placer  gold  now  beinj 
found  below  may  have  its  origin  in  the  mountains  at  the  head  o 
Stewart  River  and  neighboring  streams. 

DISTANCES  AND   RATE   OF   TRAVEL. 

If,  after  duly  balancing  the  encouragements  and  discouragement: 
offered  by  the  gold  regions,  the  reader  is  inclined  to  pack  up  an( 
set  out  for  the  new  Eldorado,  it  is  well  for  him  to  pause  a  momen 
and  consider  how  far  he  has  to  go,  how  long  it  will  take  him,  anc 
what  it  will  cost. 

From  New  York  to  Seattle,  Wash 3, 100  miles. 

"     San  Francisco  to  Seattle 697     " 

"    Seattle  to  Juneau    899     " 

*    Wrangel  to  Juneau 14S     " 

30 


the  sides  of  the  layer, 
?  would  do  no  good,  on 
I,  and  the  charge  would 
iken  out  containing  the 
ents  come  down,  and  is 
'  very  hard  labor." 

IONS. 

ir  excitement  just  now, 
irily  deserted,  and  new 
e  the  attention  of  the 

ve  recently  been  made 
s  been  named  Minute 
he  man.  Another  dis- 
Forty  Mile  Camp,  is 
of  men  have  flocked 
uns  from  $ro  to  $i8. 
ors  will  strike  for  these 
ity. 

iceived  of  wonderfully 
rt  River.  Particulars 
ge  is  a  large  one,  and 
Jarned.  This,  if  true, 
le  report  confirms  the 
e  effect  that  the  rough 
quartz  veins  not  far 
on  not  far  above  Daw- 
)lacer  gold  now  being 
ntains  at  the  head  of 

PRAVEL. 

i  and  discouragements 
lined  to  pack  up  and 
m  to  pause  a  moment 
it  will  take  him,  and 

3,ioo  miles. 

697     " 

899 


From  Sitka  to  Juneau 

Unalaska  to  San  P'rancisco. . 

][  "  "Sitka "■'.'.'...'.'.]".'.'.'. 

"  St.  Michael's 

"  f^ape  Prince  of  Wales   ] 

Point  Harrow. . . 
(<  II  4,  

St.  George  Island 

''         "St.  Paul  Island 

_''  "         "•'^'-  '^^'■'^''^e''^  to  the  Klondike  via  the  Yukon     .,0,^ 

^     via'^thrrh'-R'''  "t'^"''"''  "'^'  ^"'"^"  ^°^  ^  ^-«  -^  -easure- 
:,  !!1.1\^.^'."^""'  ^'''\'''  approximately  as  follows:     (No 


t6o  mile<i. 

2,369  " 

1,278  " 

770  " 

8r6  " 

',346  " 

222  '  * 

271  " 

1,800  " 


ment 

actual  survey  has  been  made.) 

Juneau  to  Healey  &  Wilson's  Camp 

((1(11,  ' 

nead  of  canoe  navigation . 

summit  of  Chilkoot  Pa.ss 

Lake  Linderman  Landing 

_''      ''  head  of  Lake  Bennett '.'■'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..".'. '^° 

"  International  Boundary...  .                  ^^° 

'_'      "  foot  of  Lake  Bennett '.'......'...'. ^^° 

"   foot  of  Caribou  Crossing                        ^,^ 

"      "  foot  of  Taki.sh  Lake  . .      '^^ 

"      "  Takish  House ''"' '^'^ 

"  head  of  Mud  or  Marsh  Lake ^^^ 

"       "  foot  of  Mud  Lake                    '^^ 

'_'      "headofCanon '.^ . .'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'. ''°' 

"  head  of  White  Morse  Rapids ^'^^ 

I'      "  Takheena  River .    .■.■.■.■.■.■.■;; ""^^ 

"  head  of  Lake  Le  Rarge ^^^ 

"      "  foot  of  Lake  Le  Barge          ^^° 

"       "   Hootalinqua  .                 265 

"      "  CassiarBar ■"■■ ^95 

"      "  Little  Salmon  River      ^^^ 

"      "  Five  Fingers. .. .                    ^65 

"       "   Pelly  River 52? 

"       "  Stewart   River.                      ^86 

"       "   Klondike  Creek y.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'.' [ ^°^ 

The  rate  of  travel   under  favorabl 
as  follows 


100  miles. 
105      " 


(( 
(( 
(( 
(( 
It 
It 
tt 
<< 

!t 

It 

(1 

(( 

(( 
(( 
(I 
(( 


le  circumstances  will   be  about 


New  York  to  Seattle,  Wash . . 

Seattle  to  Juneau 

Juneau  to  Klondike,  via  Chilkoot"  Pass 

Juneau  to  Klondike,  via  St.  Michael's  and  Yukon'  Ri'ver! 


(I 
It 


Total. 


Days. 


7 
4 

25 


Days. 


7 
4 


31 


..-T'-  :j 


I  .1 


The  foregoing  rates  are  subject  to  variation   by  circumstances. 
For  instance,  the  twenty-five  days'  travel  from  Juneau  to  the  Klon 
dike  is   based   on   tl)e  statement  of  I'rof.    VV.    H.   Dall,  the  Alasicaiil 
explorer.       Over   a   good,   open  trail   a   pack-train    could   make   thej 
distance    in    twenty-five    days.       With    snow,    landslips    and    otherj 
obstructions  this  lime  could   easily   be    doubled.      I'arallel    contin- 
gencies beset  the  all-waier  route  via  St.  Michael's  and  the  Yukon. 
Fogs,  ice  and  other  obstacles  are  liable  to  protract  the  trip  over  tlie| 
forty  days  above  given. 

FARES  TO  THE  KLONDIKE. 

The  present  routes  to  the  Klondike  and  its  neighborhood  all  be- 1 
gin  at  Seattle.  The  fare  from  New  York  to  Seattle  via  the  North- 
ern Pacific  Railroad  is  $67.75.  From  Seattle  there  are  two  general 
routes  to  the  Klondike.  One  is  by  way  of  the  North  American 
Trading  Company's  steamers  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  at  St. 
Michael's  and  thence  up  the  Yukon  by  river  boats  to  Dawson  City. 
The  fare  by  this  route  is  $180,  and  but  150  pounds  of  baggage  are 
allowed  to  each  passenger.  'Ihe  other  routes  are  by  way  of 
Juneau.  The  fare  to  Juneau  from  Seattle  is  $75,  and  from 
Juneau  to  Dyea,  at  the  head  of  steam  navigation,  usually  $10, 
Miners  generally  employ  natives  to  pack  supplies  across  the  moun- 
tains, the  charge  for  this  work  usually  being  from  $12  to  $14  per 
hundred  pounds.     The  distance  is  about  27  miles. 

WHAT  TO   TAKE. 

Juneau  merchants  who  make  a  specialty  of  this  trade,  know  ex- 
actly what  is  wanted  and  how  it  should  be  put  up.  An  outfit  de- 
pends much  upon  the  purse  and  taste  of  the  purchaser,  and  will 
cost  from  $50  to  $150.  Experience  has  proved  the  following  to  be 
essentials: 

Two  pairs  heaviest  woollen  socks. 

One  pair  Canadian  laragans  or  shoe  packs. 

One  pair  German  socks. 

Two  pairs  heaviest  woollen  blankets. 

One  oil  blanket  or  canvas. 

One  Mackinaw  suit. 

Two  heavy  flannel  shirts. 

Two  pairs  heavy  overalls. 

Two  suits  heavy  woollen  underwear. 

One  pair  gum-boots  (Golden  Seal,  crack  proof,  preferable). 

32 


\ 


circumstances. 
11  to  the  KIoii- 
II,  the  Alaskaiil 
ould   make   the! 
ips   and    otherl 
arallel    contin-l 
md  the  Yukon, 
e  trip  over  thcl 


lorhood  all  be- 
via  the  Nortli- 
re  two  general 
)rth    American 

Yukon   at  St. 

T3awson  City. 
>f  baggage  are 
e  by  way  of 
I75,  and  from 
,    usually   $10. 

OSS  the  moun- 
^2  to  $14  per 


de,  know  ex- 
An  outfit  de- 
aser,  and  will 

lowing  to  be 


erable). 


r 


;\ 


..r 


!3j' 


Ci.i 


->    \ 


V 

-if 

i 


One  pair  snowshoes. 

One  pair  snow-glas*^-' . 

Cap  and  mittens. 

One  8x  lo  wall  tent  (8  oz.  duck  or  heavy  drill). 

One  small  Yukon  stove. 

Tkree  lengths  telescope  pipe. 

One  large  frying  pan. 

One  baking  pan. 

One  8-qt.  granite  kettle. 

One  6-qt.  granite  kettle. 

One  8-qt.  bread  pan. 

One  coffee  pot. 

One  granite  plate. 

One  granite  cup. 

One  large  mixing  spoon. 

One  knife,  fork  and  spoon. 

'"''^ree  and  one-half  pound  axe. 

..ails,  hammer,  saws. 

Pitch  and  oakum  for  boat  building. 

Fifty  feet  of  |-inch  rope. 

Matches. 

A  good  rifle  and  ammunition  are  not  a  necessity,  but  are  advis- 
able for  an  emergency,  and  may  be  a  useful  moans  of  supplementing 
the  food  supply.  Little  game  is  seen,  however,  unless  one  goes 
back  into  the  hi"  •  for  it. 

Fishing  tacl  e  of  some  sort  should  certainly  be  taken.  Fish  are 
plentiful  and  a  gill  net  should  form  a  part  of  every  outfit. 

Needles  and  thread  and  buttons  are  also  necessary. 

Mosquito  netting,  cap  and  mittens  are  needed  to  protect  from 
the  swarms  o      xious  mosquitoes. 

Large  out  -s,  however,  are  now  pronounced  unnecessary  and  in- 
advisable, as  competition  between  the  trading  companies  has  so 
reduced  pric  .  at  Forty-Mile  and  vicinity  that  it  does  not  pay  to 
take  in  more  than  a  generous  supply  for  the  journey."  We  quote 
the  foregoii.g  statement  from  an  Alaskan  publication  which  may 
have  been  inspired  and  we  advise  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  the 
pitiful  tale  of  the  spider  and  the  fly  when  he  reads  it. 

The  cost  of  the  outnt  depends  on  the  purse  of  the  buyer.  A  few 
have  started  out  with  as  small  as  a  $25  outfit,  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
they  repented  of  their  economy.  A  hundred  dollars  is  a  more  com- 
fortable  figure,  and   $150   still   safer.     An    ordinary  outfit  weighs 


33 


about  400  lbs.  to  the  man,  although  some  have  been  taken  that 
would  tip  the  scales  at  1,500  weight. 

A  miner's  clothing  is' largely  a  matter  of  taste  and  financial  re- 
sources. Miners  usually  adopt  the  native  costume.  The  boots, 
made  by  the  Coast  Indians,  are  of  several  varieties.  The  water 
boot  is  of  seal  and  walrus  skin,  while  the  dry  weather  or  winter  boot 
is  of  all  varieties  of  styles  and  material.  The  more  expensive  have 
fur  trimmed  legs,  elaborately  designed.  They  cost  from  $2  to  $5  a 
pair.  Trousers  are  often  made  of  Siberian  fawn  skin  and  the  skin 
of  ihe  marmot,  or  ground  squirrel.  The  parka,  or  upper  garment  is 
usually  of  marmot  skins,  trimmed  with  wolverine  around  the  hood 
and  lower  edge,  the  long  hair  from  the  sides  of  the  wolverine  being 
used  for  the  hood.  This  hair  is  sometimes  five  or  six  inches  in 
length,  and  is  useful  in  protecting  the  face  of  the  wearer.  Good, 
warm  flannels  can  be  worn  under  the  parka,  and  the  whole  outfit 
will  weigh  less  than  the  ordinary  clothes  worn  in  a  country  where 
the  weather  gets  down  to  zero.  The  parka  is  almost  cold  proof. 
But  it  is  expensive,  ranging  in  price  from  $25  to  $100.  Blankets 
and  fur  robes  are  used  for  bedding.  Lynx  skins  make  the  best 
robes.  Good  ones  cost  $100.  But  cheaper  robes  can  be  made  of 
the  skin  of  bear,  mink,  red  fox  and  the  Arctic  hare.  The  skins 
of  the  latter  animal  make  warm  socks  to  be  worn  with  the  skin 
boots. 

As  to  the  food  supply,  the  following  list  is  recommended  by  a 
transportation  company,  and  we  give  it  for  what  it  is  worth,  with 
the  caution  that  it  appears  inadequate  to  do  much  more  than  land 
the  traveler  in  the  Klondike  region  where  he  must  depend  on  sup- 
plies purchased  at  exorbitant  prices  at  the  "store,"  for  his  future 
subsistence. 

Flour,  50  pounds. 

Baking  powder,  i  1-2  pounds. 

Dried  fruit,  15  pounds. 

Bacon  (side),  20  pounds. 

Beans,  35  pounds. 

Sugar  (loaf),  10  pounds. 

Coffee,  3  pounds. 

Tea,  I  pound.  "  , 

Salt,  3  pounds. 

Pepper,  one-half  pound. 

Dessicated  onions,  i  pound. 

Butter,  milk,  rice,  corn  meal,  etc.  (optional). 


mi 


34 


al  re- 
oots, 
water 
boot 
have 
$5  a 
skin 
ent  is 
hood 
being 
les  in 
iood, 
outfit, 
where 
proof, 
nkets 
i  best 
ide  of 
skins 
e  skin 


Another  ejcpert  gives  this  list  of  provisions  as  sufficient  to  last  a 
man  for  one  month: 

Twenty  pounds  of  flour,  with  baking  powder. 

Twelve  pounds  of  bacon. 

Six  pounds  of  beans. 

Five  pounds  of  desiccated  vegetables. 

Four  pounds  of  butter. 

Five  pounds  of  sugar. 

Four  cans  of  milk. 

One  pounds  of  tea. 

Three  pounds  of  coffee, 

Two  pounds  of  salt. 

Five  pounds  of  corn  meal. 

Pepper,  mustard. 

It  is  well  to  reinforce  here  what  has  been  said  elsewhere,  that  the 
principal  danger  is  not  from  sunstroke  in  a  temperature  of  loo  to 
1 20  degrees  in  summer,  or  freezing  to  death  in  a  temperature  of 
70  below  zero  in  winter,  or  being  lost  in  snow  drifts,  or  overwhelmed 
by  glaciers  or  snow  slides,  or  assassination  by  natives,  or  murder  by 
drunken  miners,  but  from  siarvaiio)}.  We  should  therefore  advise 
the  taking  of  either  actual  food  enough  for  a  year,  or  the  money 
with  which  to  buy  food  for  a  year.  For  after  once  getting  into  the 
country,  it  would  be  found  difficult  to  get  out  until  the  ice  breaks  up 
at  the  end  of  the  nine  months'  winter.  One  of  the  transportation 
companies  guarantees  to  feed  a  man  for  a  year  for  $400. 

A  man  of  experience  writes:  "  The  man  who  goes  in  this  coming 
winter  over  the  Chilkat  and  Chilkoot  passes,  or  the  man  who  goes 
in  this  summer  by  the  steamboat  route,  should  take  in  two  years' 
grub.  I  understand  that  steamboat  companies  will  not  carry  grub  or 
merchardise  for  any  man,  and  that  they  are  making  a  flat  passenger 
rate  of  $150  for  any  port  from  Seattle  to  Dawson.  This  means  that 
they  will  get  several  thousand  people  in  there  this  season,  and  if  they 
do  not  get  enough  grub  in,  grub  will  be  high.  Not  less  than  1,000 
newcomers  came  over  this  spring,  and  how  many  will  come  by  boat 
we  can  only  conjecture." 

APPROXIMATE  COST  OF  TRIP. 


Concerning   the 

amount 

of  money   required  at 

the  outset,  esti- 

mates 

vary.     One 

authority 

says : 

•'The  smallest 

sum   of 

money 

which 

any  man  of  experience 

has  advised  a  man  to  go  in 

with  is 

$250  in  hand  after 

buying  su 

pplies 

and  paying  all 

passage 

money 

35 

- 

f  il 


from  Seattle.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars*  worth  of  supplies  is 
the  smallest  amount  that  it  is  safe  to  start  with.  One  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  winter  clothing  must  be  added  to  this.  No  person 
should  start  from  New  York  or  vicinity  for  the  Klondike  with 
less  than  $750  in  hand,  and  the  more  a  man  has  the  better  for  him 
And  no  person  should  start  from  Seattle  after  the  middle  of 
August." 

Another  authority  says:  "  I  should  place  the  minimum  amount  at 
$600.  It  would  not  be  safe  to  start  out  with  less.  But  he  had  better 
make  it  a  thousand,  if  possible,  for  with  the  present  rush  it  is  likely 
that  prices  will  be  trebled  or  even  quadrupled.  Even  the  Indians 
will  charge  more  for  their  assistance.  Still,  if  a  man  is  stranded  on 
the  way  he  will  probably  find  it  easy  to  make  a  living  almost  any- 
where in  the  gold  bearing  portion  of  the  Yukon  basin.  He  can  earn 
$10  or  $15  a  day  digging  the  ground  for  men  with  good  claims. 
And  with  the  rise  in  prices  these  wages  may  also  go  up.  Bear  in 
mind,  however,  that  the  price  of  living  must  increase  in  proportion." 

Still  a  third  authority  asserts  that  it  would  be  extremely  fool- 
hardy for  a  man  to  start  from  New  York  for  Klondike  with  less 
than  5^1,500  in  his  pocket.  "  It  would  take  at  least  $400  to  get  with- 
in 1,000  miles  of  the  gold  fields  with  only  his  traveling  bag  in  his 
hand.  If  he  should  go  on  without  a  miner's  kit  and  proper  supplies 
the  scarcity  of  food  and  the  exorbitant  prices  would  take  the  rest, 
and  he  would  find  himself  working  for  $15  a  day  in  Klondike  and 
paying  $14  for  board." 

Perhaps  the  best  way  to  get  at  it  is  to  figure  it  up  for  yourself, 
and  you  will  come  somewhere  near  the  following  estimate: 

Fare  from  Kew  York  to  h^eattk, $67  75 

Meals,  in  dining  car 9  00 

Pullman  sleeper iS  00 

Steamer  fare,  Seattle  to  Juneau,  cabin  and  meals lb  00 

Expenses  while  staying  in  Juneau , 30  00 

Miner's  outfit, ....  1 50  00 

Juneau  to  Dyea 10  00 

Packing  over  the  "  divide,"  say 30  00 

Provisions  for  one  year 400  00 

*Canadian  mining  claim  tax  (annual) 100  00 

^Registering  mining  claim 15  oo 

Guide  and  incidentals 95  25 

$1,000  00 

*  In  addition  to  these  items  there  is  a  10  per  cent.  (Canadian  tax  on  mining  out- 
puts of  less  than  $500  per  year,  and  20  per  cent,  on  outputs  of  over  $500.  (See 
"  Mining  Claims  and  Taxes.") 

36 


r« 
n 

S( 
S( 

w 
o 
e 


I 


a 

t! 
1; 
s 
e 
s 
t 


I 


■•k 


JUNEAU. 

Juneau,  the  outfitting^  point,  is  a  thriving  city  at  the  head  of 
regular  steamboat  navigation  in  ?outh-eastern  Alaska.  It  is  di- 
rectly opposite  Douglass,  on  Douglass  Island,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  Gastineaux  Channel.  Here  the  steamers  leave  pas- 
sengers brought  from  the  vSound  ports  or  Victoria.  The  town  is 
well  supplied  with  hotels  and  restaurants,  where  board  can  be 
obtained  for  $1.00  a  day  up,  with  lodgings  extra.  The  market  offers 
everything  necessary  of  good  quality  and  fairly  reasonable  prices. 


r  STARTING   OUT. 

Parties  should  start  from  Juneau  between  the  middle  of  March 
and  end  of  April  if  going  via  Chilkoot  Pass,  as  they  can  then  do 
their  own  transporting  on  sleighs  across  the  summit  and  down  the 
lakes  to  where  good  timber  for  boat  building  is  to  be  found,  and  the 
start  down  'the  river  made  when  the  ice  breaks,  which  is  much 
e^rlici"  than  on  the  lakes,  and  the  mines  may  be  reached  a  month 
sooner  than  if  the  boats  are  built  on  the  lakes  and  a  wait  made  for 
the  ice  to  break  there.  Four  or  five  men  should  compose  each  party, 
as  one  tent,  stove,  set  of  tools,  etc.,  will  suffice  for  all.  One  of  the 
party  should  have  a  knowledge  of  boat  building,  for  it  is  an  absolute 
necessity  that  the  craft  shall  be  staunch  and  substantial.  The 
double  ended  batteau  is  the  pattern  ordinarily  preferred,  though  the 
plain  scow  of  good  depth  is  more  easily  built  and  can  be  depended 
npon.  No  man  should  attempt  the  journey  alone  for  various  reasons 
which  are  obvious.  Beside  the  economy  of  a  party  of  two,  three  or 
four,  considerations  of  self-preservation  and  self-protection  dictate 
companion.ship.  In  a  region  governed  by  only  miners'  law,  it  is  well 
to  have  some  friends  to  stand  by  you.  In  case  of  sickness,  a  trusty 
friend  may  be  the  means  of  saving  one's  life  when  coldly  calculating 
avarice  is  freezing  the  well-springs  of  human  sympathy  in  a  com- 
munity more  absorbed  in  getting  gold  than  in  ministering  Samaritan 
comfort.  The  solitary  man  is  exposed  to  a  still  further  risk,  effect- 
ively illustrated  in  a  letter  received  by  a  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  man  at  the 
time  of  this  writing,  from  his  brother  in  the  Yukon  region.  After 
remarking  that  although  but  twenty-eight  years  old,  his  experience 
has  aged  him  so  that  he  feels  like  a  man  of  sixty,  he  says  that  he 
comes  out  with  a  snug  little  fortune,  but  that  it  is  only  about  one- 
tenth  of  his  clean-ups.  The  rest  had  been  stolen  from  its  hiding 
place  from  time  to  time  while  he  was  working  his  claim.     The  pres- 

37 


ence  of  a  companion  to  watch  one's  pile  is  almost  essential  to  suc- 
cess. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  making  up  a  party,  it  might  be  well  to 
profit  by  the  well-known  axiom  of  sportsmen  going  into  the  woods 
of  Maine  and  the  Adirondacks,  to  the  effect  that  while  "two  is  a 
company,"  there  or  more  is  sometimes  a  crowd.  That  is  to  say, 
in  the  natural  diversity  of  human  minds,  there  is  more  chance  of 
reconciling  the  opinions  and  tastes  of  a  few  than  of  many,  and  a 
small  party  stands  a  better  chance  of  a  good  time  than  a  large  one. 
In  the  present  case  a  party  of  four  is  probably  the  best. 

CHILKOOT  PASS  ROUTE. 

Assuming  that  your  party  is  ready,  your  outfit  bought,  and  that 
you  have  selected  the  Chilkoot  route  to  the  Klondike,  you  embark 
on  a  small  steamer  at  Juneau  for  Dyea,  a  hundred  miles  to  the 
northwest,  at  the  head  of  navigation.  This  route  is  the  shortest, 
quickest  and  cheapest,  and  the  one  taken  by  fully  ninety-five  per 
cent,  of  the  gold  seekers  of  the  vast  interior. 

The  trip  in  good  weather  is  made  in  twelve  hours  if  there  is  no 
towing  to  be  done  and  the  regular  fare  is  ten  dollars,  each  passenger 
furnishing  his  own  blankets  and  provisions.  If  the  party  is  a  large 
one  with  considerable  baggage  a  scow  is  loaded  with  the  miners' 
outfits;  if  the  tides  are  high  the  boat  sometimes  goes  over  the  bar 
at  the  head  of  Douglass  Island,  thus  saving  nearly  twenty  miles  of 
travel  besides  avoiding  the  rough  waters  of  the  Takou.  If  the 
tides  are  not  high  the  scow  may  be  towed  over  the  bar  by  the  little 
tug  "Julia"  and  the  steamboat  will  take  its  course  around  the  lower 
end  of  Douglass.  In  rounding  the  point  of  the  island  the  vessel  is 
often  subjected  to  the  fierce  winds  which  sweep  down  t\\c  valley  of 
the  Takou  river.  If  there  is  a  strong  north  or  southwest  wind,  like 
a  demon  it  comes  roaring  out  from  the  Takou,  lashing  the  water 
into  foam  in  its  rage  and  tossing  volumes  of  spray  clear  over  the  top 
of  Grand  Island.  When  the  steamer  has  come  around  to  the  head 
of  the  island  it  takes  the  scow  in  tow.  In  about  twenty  hours 
from  the  time  of  leaving  it  enters  the  mouth  of  the  Dyea  river  near 
Chilkoot  and  the  salt-water  journey  is  ended. 

Here  on  a  sandspit,  about  a  mile  below  Healy  &  Wilson's  trad- 
ing posts,  the  outfits  are  taken  from  the  scow  and  piled  upon  the 
beach.  Each  man  must  look  out  for  himself  now — the  guardianship 
of  your  baggage  by  any  carrying  company  is  ended.  Juneau  is 
nearly    too  miles  behind  you.       Immediately  in  the  foreground  is 

38 


Ito 

Ids 

a 

fy- 

lof 
a 


the  ranch  and  store  owned  by  Healy  &  Wilson,  and  beyond,  in 
their  mantles  of  snow  rise  the  coast  mountains,  cold  and  severe, 
striking  a  feeling  of  dread  into  many  a  heart;  and  beyond  this 
frozen  barrier  there  stretches  away  hundreds  of  miles  the  vast  coun- 
iry  of  the  Yukon,  an  expanse  so  wide  that  it  is  limited  only  by  the 
(.;xtent  of  man's  endurance.  But  haste  must  be  made  in  the  sorting 
of  outfits  and  getting  them  above  tide  water.  Most  miners  camp 
near  by  in  the  edge  of  the  woods,  i)erhaps  taking  one  or  two  meals 
at  the  trading  post,  which  can  be  had  at  the  price  of  50  cents  each; 
others  lind  both  board  and  lodging  there  until  they  are  ready  to 
push  on. 

Now  for  the  first  time  the  miner  begins  to  size  up  his  belongings, 
and  begins  to  realize  that  a  proper  outfit  for  a  trip  of  this  kind  is  the 
result  of  experience,  and  the  longer  he  has  been  in  this  country  and 
the  more  thoroughly  he  knows  it,  just  so  much  more  care  is  used  in 
the  selection  and  packing  of  his  outfit.  A  careful  and  thorough 
examination  should  be  made  to  see  that  nothing  has  been  lost  or  for- 
gotten. There  is  his  Yukon  sleigh,  without  which  further  progress 
would  be  well  nigh  impossible,  a  skeleton  affair  made  from  the  best 
hard  wood  and  shod  with  ground  steel  runners.  It  is  seven  feet 
three  inches  long  and  sixteen  inches  wide — just  the  proper  width  to 
track  behind  snowshoes,  and  its  cost  from  seven  to  fourteen  dollars. 
Brass  is  preferable  to  iron  for  the  shoes,  as  it  slides  more  easily 
through  the  fine,  dry  snow  one  finds  in  the  early  spring.  Steel  is 
disposed  to  grind  and  drag,  as  if  it  were  gritting  over  sand,  A 
practical  suggestion  by  an  Arctic  explorer  is  to  the  effect  that  sled- 
ding is  rendered  much  easier  in  cold  weath-^r  by  filling  the  mouth 
with  water  and  ejecting  it  upon  the  runne  .-.  ■  hc^  it  forms  a  coat- 
ing of  ice  that  materially  lubricates  the  sledge.  A  sledge  bound 
together  with  leather  thongs,  in  the  Esquimau.'i  style,  is  much  safer 
than  one  made  with  nails  and  bolts  iii  tl".  ^  English  mode,  as  it  is 
more  elastic  and  less  liable  to  break  in  case  of  overturning. 

On  leaving  Healy  &  Wilson's  camp  one  bids  farewell  to  hotels, 
restaurants,  steamboats,  stores,  conventionalities  of  civilization  and 
organized  government.  Up  the  Dyea  river  five  miles,  over  ice  if 
early  in  the  season  or  through  ice  if  it  is  breaking  up,  one  reaches 
the  mouth  of  the  canyon.  Here  in  the  woods  a  comfortable  camp 
can  be  made.  The  tent  is  pitched  on  top  of  the  snow  into  which 
the  poles  and  pins  are  pushed  with  little  effort.  While  the  best 
cook  is  preparing  supper,  others  are  making  the  bed.  If  you  have 
no  stove,  the  campfire  must  be  built  either  on  an  exposed  rock  or  in 


ia 


39 


a  hole  in  the  snow.  Tf  you  have  a  stove,  you  arrange  t)  "tove  in 
the  tent  on  a  "grid-iron"  made  of  three  poles  six  or  eigh  .  long, 

to  prevent  its  settling  down  when  the  snow  melts  underneath.  The 
bed  is  made  of  hemlock  brush  iaid  on  the  snow  to  the  depth  of  a 
foot  or  more,  and  covered  with  a  large  square  of  canvas,  blankets 
and  robes.  When  finished  the  bed  is  a  fragrant  and  delightfully 
springy  couch,  as  grateful  to  the  aching  bones  of  the  fatigued  traveler 
as  the  softest  eider  down  or  the  most  perfect  wire  spring  mattress. 
Hauling  a  sled  all  day  is  calculated  to  give  big  appetites  for  food 
and  sleep. 

Dyea  Canyon  is  not  navigable,  but  in  early  spring  miners  go 
through  on  the  ice,  bridging  the  dangerous  holes  with  poles.  The 
canyon  is  about  two  miles  long  and  about  fifty  feet  wide.  After  the 
ice  breaks  up  it  is  necessary  to  follow  the  trail  or  the  ea'  iide  of 
the  canyon.      Captain   Healy  built  this  trail  at  his  own  e:  e,  but 

as  most  miners  go  through  on  the  ice,  it  is  little  used.  Beyond  the 
canyon  is  a  strip  of  woods,  some  three  miles  long,  in  which  is  a 
resting  place  called  Pleasant  Camp.  This  alluring  name  has  not 
even  a  log  shanty  to  represent  it.  It  consists  of  an  ample  ground- 
work of  snow  and  the  shelter  of  the  trees;  and  that  is  all. 

Quite  a  steep  ascent  is  now  made  until  Sheep  Camp  is  reached, 
the  last  camp  in  the  timber  before  crossing  the  summit.  Here  the 
party  rests  awaiting  favorable  weather  for  making  the  most  tedious 
eight  miles  of  the  climb  that  intervene  between  the  camp  and  the 
top  of  the  divide.  As  this  camp  is  on  the  edge  of  the  timber,  no 
fire-wood  can  be  gotten  further  up,  and  it  is  customary  not  to  pull 
up  stakes  until  all  the  equipment  has  been  sent  on  ahead  to  the 
summit.  In  favorable  wer^iher,  everything  except  what  is  actually 
needed  in  camp  is  pushed  on  a  mile  and  a-half  to  a  big  clump  of 
rocks  called  Stone  House,  and  then  to  what  is  called  the  "second 
bench." 

In  soft  weather  care  must  be  taken  against  a  snow  slide  or  ava- 
lanche sweeping  away  the  outfit.  In  such  an  unfortuuate  event  the 
Indians  will  prove  of  great  assistance  in  recovering  part  of  the 
things.  With  long,  slender  rods  tipped  with  steel  they  feel  down  in 
the  snow  and  locate  most  of  the  larger  packages,  which,  without 
them  and  their  feel  rods,  one  would  never  find.  At  Sheep  Camp  the 
summit  towers  above  you  about  3,500  feet,  but  the  pass  is  some  500 
feet  lower.  No  further  progress  can  be  made  until  a  clear  day,  and 
sometimes  the  weather  continues  bad  for  two  or  three  weeks,  the 
mountain  top  hidden  in  thick  clouds,  and  icy  wind  hurling  the  new 


40 


:  in 

"g, 
'he 
f  a 
ets 
illy 


fallen  snow  in  every  direction,  or  driving  the  sleet  in  the  face  of  any 
one  bold  enough  to  stir  out  of  camp,  and  peep  up  at  that  almost  pre- 
cipitious  wall  of  snow  and  ice.  But  sunshine  comes  at  last,  and  the 
winds  grow  still.  Now  comes  the  tug  of  war — to  get  the  outfit  to 
the  summit,  for  600  feet  every  step  must  be  cut  in  the  ice,  and  so 
steep  is  it  that  a  person  with  a  pick  on  his  back  must  constantly  bend 
forward  to  maintain  his  ecjuilibrium.  The  first  load  landed  on  the 
summit  of  the  pass,  a  shovel  is  stuck  in  the  snow  the  snow  to  mark 
the  spot,  then  back  for  another  pack,  and  fortunate  is  he  who  gets 
his  whole  outfit  up  in  a  single  day. 

Indians  may  be  hired  to  do  the  packing,  and  their  rates  vary 
slightly,  but  the  regular  price  has  been  $5  a  hundredweight  from  the 
second  bench  to  the  summit,  )r  15  cents  a  pound  from  Healy  & 
Wilson's  to  the  lakes.  These  prices  have  been  shaded  a  little  the 
past  season,  and  some  outfits  were  packed  over  to  the  lakes  at  T3 
cents  a  pound.  The  reasons  for  this  cut  in  prices  are  that  many 
miners  insist  on  doing  their  own  packing  and  that  their  work  has 
been  seriously  affected  by  a  tramway  device  which  was  operated  last 
season  with  more  or  less  success  by  one  Peterson,  whose  inventive 
genius  led  him  to  believe  that  a  simple  arrangement  of  ropes  and 
pulleys  would  greatly  help  in  getting  outfits  up  the  steeper  places. 
A  small  log  is  buried  in  the  snow,  and  to  this  "  dead  man  "  a  pulley 
is  attached  through  which  a  long  rope  is  passed,  to  the  lower  end  of 
which  a  loaded  Yukon  sleigh  is  attached.  An  empty  box  on  a 
sled  fastened  to  the  upper  end  of  the  rope  is  then  filled  with  snow 
until  its  weight  becomes  sufficient  to  take  it  down  the  incline, 
thus  dragging  the  other  one  up.  The  snow  was  found  too  light, 
but  with  three  or  four  men  as  ballast  in  place  of  snow,  it  worked 
well  and  saved  a  good  deal  of  hard  packing.  When  the  last  load 
has  reached  the  summit,  and  the  miner  stands  beside  his  outfit  look- 
ing down  toward  the  ocean  only  20  miles  away,  he  can  feel  that  his 
journey  has  fairly  begun,  and  as  he  turns  he  sees  the  descending 
slope  melting  away  into  the  great  valley  of  the  Yukon. 

From  the  summit  is  gained  a  magnificent  mountain  view  of  the 
coast.  The  eye  ranges  over  leagues  of  snow  peaks,  forested 
slopes  and  shining  glaciers.  Secretary  Wm.  H.  Seward  was  the 
first  pleasure  traveler  to  penetrate  the  region,  and  could  not  suffi- 
ciently extol  the  grandeur  of  the  view. 

The  descent  for  the  first  half  mile  is  steep,  then  a  gradual  slope 
to  Lake  Linderman  some  ten  miles  away.  But  there  is  but  little 
time  for  resting  and  none  for  dreaming,  as  the  edge  of  the  timber 


|l 


41 


where  the  camp  must  be  made  is  seven  miles  from  the  summit. 
Taking  the  camping  outfit  and  sufficient  provisions  for  four  or  five 
days,  the  sleigh  is  loaded,  the  rest  of  the  outfit  is  packed  up,  or 
buried  in  the  snow,  shovels  being  stuck  up  to  mark  the  spot.  This 
precaution  is  necessary,  for  storms  come  suddenly  and  rage  with 
fury  along  these  mountain  crests.  The  first  half  mile  or  more  is 
made  in  quick  time,  then  over  six  or  seven  feet  of  snow  the  pros- 
pector drags  his  sleigh  to  where  there  is  wood  for  his  camp  fire. 
At  times  this  is  no  easy  task,  especially  if  the  weather  be  stormy, 
for  the  winds  blow  the  new  fallen  snow  about  so  as  to  completely 
cover  the  track  made  by  the  man  but  little  ahead;  at  other  times 
during  fine  weather  and  with  a  hard  crust  on  the  snow,  it  is  only  a 
pleasant  run  from  the  Pass  down  to  the  first  camp  in  the  Yukon 
bas'.n.  In  all  except  the  most  sheltered  situations  the  tent  is 
necessary  for  comfort,  and  the  stove  gives  better  satisfaction  than 
the  camp-fire,  as  it  burns  but  little  wood,  is  easier  to  cook  over,  and 
does  not  poison  the  eyes  with  smoke.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  there 
are  fewer  cases  of  snow  blindness  among  those  who  use  stoves  than 
among  those  who  crowd  around  a  smoking  camp-fire  for  cooking 
or  for  warmth.  Comfort  in  making  a  trip  of  this  kind  will  depend, 
in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  conveniences  of  camping,  suitable 
clothing,  and  light,  warm  bedding.  Yes,  upon  provisions,  too, 
though  often  more  depends  upon  the  cook  than  what  is  in  the  larder. 

After  the  rest  of  the  outfit  has  been  brought  from  the  summit 
the  next  move  is  to  Lake  Linderman,  about  three  miles  distant. 
The  route  now  lies  seven  miles  across  the  lake  to  its  outlet,  down 
the  outlet  three  or  four  miles  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  Lake 
Bennett,  down  to  the  foot  of  this  lake,  twenty-five  miles,  then  down 
the  river  four  or  five  miles  and  Takish  lake  is  reached.  This  lake  is 
some  20  miles  long  and  empties  into  Mud  or  Marsh  Lake  through  an 
outlet  3  miles  long;  Mud  Lake  is  about  ten  miles  in  length,  and  at 
the  foot  of  it  open  water  is  usually  found  in  April.  Open  water  will 
probably  be  passed  before  reaching  this  point  in  the  rivers  conne'  t- 
ing  the  lakes,  but  firm  ice  at  the  sides  affords  good  sledding,  but  at 
the  foot  of  Mud  lake  a  raft  or  boat  must  be  built.  Dry  timber  can 
be  found  along  the  shores  with  which  to  build  a  raft,  which  will  take 
everything  to  the  Lewis  river  canyoil,  about  forty  miles  to  the 
northwest.  The  course  down  the  lakes  has  been  much  in  the  form 
of  a  horseshoe  and  now  bears  to  the  west  instead  of  the  east. 

Before  reaching  the  canyon,  a  high  cut  bank  of  sand  on  the  right 
hand    side  will  give  warning  that   it  is  close  on  hand.     Good  river 


42 


■■>!, 


men  have  run  the  canyon  safely  even  with  loaded  rafts,  but  it  is 
much  surer  to  make  a  landing  on  the  right  side  and  portage  the  out- 
fit around  the  canyon  three-quarters  of  a  mile  and  run  the  raft 
through  empty.  The  sameness  of  scenery  on  approaching  the 
canyon  is  so  marked  that  many  parties  have  gotten  into  the  canyon 
before  they  were  aware  of  it.  Below  the  canyon  are  the  White 
Horse  rapids — a  bad  piece  of  water;  but  the  raft  can  be  lined  down 
the  right  hand  side  until  near  the  White  Horse,  three  miles  below. 
This  is  a  box  canyon  about  a  hundred  yards  long,  and  fifty  in  width, 
a  chute  through  which  the  water  of  the  river,  which  is  nearly  600 
feet  wide  just  above,  rushes  with  maddening  force.  But  few  have 
ever  attempted  to  run  it  and  four  of  them  have  been  drowned.  Of 
two  men  who  made  the  attempt  in  May,  '88,  nothing  was  found  save 
a  bundle  of  blankets.  Below  the  White  Horse  another  raft  is  built 
and  the  journey  continued  seventy- five  miles  to  Lake  LeBarge. 
This  usually  requires  three  days. 

After  entering  Lake  Le  Barge,  solid  ice  is  found  perhaps  a  mile 
from  the  inlet.  Camp  is  made  on  the  shore,  and  as  the  ice  gets  soft 
most  of  the  sledding  is  done  in  the  early  morning,  it  being  sufficiently 
light  in  May  to  start  soon  after  midnight.  This  lake  is  about  forty- 
five  miles  long,  and  there  is  an  island  about  midway.  Little  snow 
will  be  found  here  late  in  April,  but  it  will  be  all  glare  ice.  After 
camping  on  the  island  a  day's  journey  will  make  th-^  foot  of  the  lake 
and  the  sledding  is  completed.  If  one  expects  to  stay  in  the  country 
the  sled  should  not  be  thrown  away,  however,  as  it  will  prove  useful 
later  on.  A  comfortable  camp  should  be  made  here,  and  the  build- 
ing of  a  boat  commenced.  This  will  require  from  7  to  10  days,  and 
the  method  of  preparing  lumber  is  novel  to  all  who  are  unused  to 
frontier  life.  Sound,  straight  trees,  a  foot  through  the  butt,  are 
selected.  A  sawpit  about  six  feet  high  is  built  near  the  tree  and 
the  tree  felled  and  cut  into  twenty-five  foot  logs.  Your  companions  are 
invited  to  a  "  rolling  bee  "  to  help  place  the  logs  on  the  pit,  where, 
with  a  sharp  saw,  an  experienced  hand  and  a  plenty  of  '"elbow- 
grease,"  good  lumber  is  manufactured.  After  the  pit  is  leveled  and 
the  log  peeled,  a  square  is  marked  off  on  the  smaller  end  and  its 
counterpart  on  the  larger  end.  Then  it  is  lined  above  and  below, 
and  squared  or  ''slabbed"  by  sawing.  Next  it  is  lined  off  for 
boards,  an  eighth  of  an  inch  being  allowed  for  the  thickness  of  the 
saw.  After  the  boards  are  sawed,  the  boat  is  built,  the  seams 
caulked,  the  boat  pitched  and  the  poles  and  oars  made.  Then  the 
journey  is  resumed. 


F^ 


43 


Descending  the  Thirty  Mile  river  from  the  mouth  of  Lake  Le 
Barge,  the  water  is  very  swift,  and  extreme  caution  must  be 
observed  to  avoid  rocks.  Thence  for  132  miles,  there  is  clear  sail- 
ing down  the  Lewis  River,  passing  the  Hootalinqua,  Big  Salmon 
and  Little  Salmon  rivers  on  the  right,  until  one  reaches  five  columns 
of  rock,  resembling  human  fingers  and  cal'  ^  Five  Fingers.  For 
half  a  dozen  miles  before  reaching  the  Five  ingers,  the  high  hills 
crowd  closely  upon  the  river  and  accelerate  the  current.  As  it  is 
necessary  to  land  twenty  yards  above  the  Fingers,  which  present  a 
partial  obstruction,  the  navigator  should  hug  the  right  bank,  and 
make  a  landing  in  an  eddy  in  the  bend.  If  the  craft  is  loaded,  it 
should  be  lightened  before  attempting  to  pass  the  Fingers,  between 
which  the  water  flows  rapidly  in  five  passages.  The  right  hand 
passage  is  the  only  safe  one,  but  care  must  be  taken  to  keep  in  the 
•'middle  of  the  road." 

A  few  miles  lower  down,  the  last  dangerous  obstacle  for  many 
miles  is  reached  in  the  Reef  or  "Rink"  rapids,  a  mile  and  a  half 
long,  extending  nearly  across  the  river.  Here  again  the  right-hand 
course  is  the  right  course. 

Five  hundred  and  eighty- six  miles  from  Juneau  you  reach  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Lewis  and  Pelly  rivers,  parents  of  the  Yukon.  Here 
is  the  site  of  old  Fort  Selkirk,  which  was  abandoned  44  years  ago, 
when  the  natives  "held  up  "  the  occupants  and  burned  the  wooden 
structure  to  the  ground  in  their  attempt  to  resist  the  inroads  of 
civilization.  At  this  point  is  reached  the  first  trading  post  called 
Harper's. 

DOWN  THE  MIGHTY  YUKON  TO  KLONDIKE. 

The  Pelly  and  Lewis  rivers  unite  in  longitude  137  degrees  30 
minutes  west,  approximately,  in  British  territory.  The  traveler 
must  remember  that  half  way  down  Lake  Bennett  (near  the  start) 
he  left  the  protection  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  has  been  under 
the  dominion  of  the  Union  Jack,  and  will  so  continue  until  he  gets 
below  Forty  Mile  on  the  Yukon.  The  Lewis  and  Pelly  are  both 
large  rivers.  The  Lewis,  down  which  the  traveler  has  just  come,  is 
best  known,  having  been  used  for  the  past  thirteen  years  as  the 
highway  from  Southeastern  Alaska  to  the  Yukon  gold  diggings.  Its 
length  from  Lake  Linderman,  one  of  its  chief  sources,  to  the  junc- 
tion with  the  Pelly,  is  about  456  miles  and  lies  entirely  within  British 
territory,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  miles  of  the  lakes  at  its  head. 

The  Pelly  River  rises) in  Dease  Lake,  near  the  headwaters  of  the 


"1. 


Stikine,  and  flows  some  500  miles  before  joining  the  Lewis  to  form 
the  Yukon.     The  union  of  these  rivers  forms  a  stream  varying  from 
three-quarters  to  one  mile  in  width.    For  many  miles  on  the  northern 
bank  is  a  solid  wall  of  lava,  compelling  the  swift  current  to  follow 
a  westerly  course  in  search  of  an  outlet  to  the  north.    The  southern 
bank  is  comparatively  low,  formed  of  sandy  alluvial  soil.     A  few 
miles  above  the  White  river  the   stream  takes  a  northerly  course 
through   a   rugged,   mountainous  country,  receiving,  on  the  south, 
the  waters  of  the  White  River — so  called  from  the   milky  color  of 
the  water — and  a  few  miles  farther  on  the   waters  of   the   Stewart 
River  on  the  north.     The  current  is  very  swift  here,  and  has  been 
observed  to  reach  seven  miles  an  hour.     The  water  of  the  Yukon 
above  the   mouth  of  the  White  River    is  clear  and  dark.       Below 
their  confluence,  the  clear  water  and  milky  water  flow   side  by  side 
without  mixing  for  many  miles.     But  after  they  are  finally  mingled, 
the  water  of  the  Yukoi;  is  discolored  to  the  sea.     At  the  Upper 
Ramparts,  so   called,    where  the  Yukon   cuts   through   the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and   flows   through  a  canon,  the  scenery  is  said   to  be 
extremely  grand.     From  Stewart  River  to  Fort  Reliance  both  banks 
are  closed  in  by  high   mountains   of  basalt  rock    and    slaty  shale. 
Many  bluffs  are  cut  into  picturesque  forms  by  glacial  action. 

The  next  tributary  of  the  Yukon,  below  the  Stewart  river  is 
Sixty  Mile  Creek,  so  called  because  it  is  sixty  miles  above  Fort 
Reliance.  A  hundred  miles  further  down  stream,  that  is  to  say, 
forty  miles  below  Fort  Reliance,  is  Forty  Mile  Creek,  so  prominent 
in  the  news  from  the  gold  fields.  About  half-way  between  Sixty 
Mile  and  Forty  Mile  Creeks,  the  now  famous  Klondike  River  enters 
the  Yukon  from  the  northeast,  and  landing  at  Dawson  City,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Klondike,  you  are  at  your  journey's  end.  But  for 
the  sake  of  continuity,  let  us  proceed  down  the  Yukon  to  its 
mouth. 

At  Fort  Reliance,  an  abandoned  trading  post,  the  Yukon  takes  a 
general  course  to  the  northwest  for  500  miles  to  the  confluence  of 
the  Porcupine  River.  Forty  miles  down  stream.  Forty  Mile  Creek 
enters  from  the  west.  Here  the  Yukon  is  nearly  two  miles  wide. 
On  Forty  Mile  Creek  were  the  principal  gold  diggings  of  the  Yukon 
valley  until  the  discoveries  of  the  Klondike,  and  one  of  the  principal 
trading  posts  of  the  interior.  Thirty-eight  miles  from  there  the 
Yukon  crosses  the  international  boundary  into  Alaska,  and  for  100 
miles  flows  in  a  broad  stream,  confined  by  high  banks  and  a  moun- 
tainous country,  said  to  abound  in  moose,  deer  and  other  game. 


4 


AS 


The  river  then  widens  out,  and  for  150  miles  is  a  network  of  chan- 
nels and  small  islands.  At  old  Fort  Yukon,  an  abandoned  Hudson 
Bay  post,  it  attains  its  highest  latitude,  being  just  within  the  Arctic 
Circle,  This  place  is  probably  the  only  serious  obstacle  to  naviga- 
tion that  is  met  with  from  its  mouth  to  Fort  Selkirk,  a  distance  of 
over  2,000  miles,  the  channel  here  shifting  from  year  to  year  and 
being  difficult  to  find.  From  Fort  Yukon  to  the  mouth  of  the  Dall 
River  and  the  entrance  of  the  Lower  Ramparts,  the  river  is  wide, 
tortuous  and  filled  with  sloughs,  islands  and  changeable  deposits. 
Entering  the  Ramparts,  a  great  change  is  noticed.  The  river  be- 
comes deep,  narrow  and  rapid,  closely  shut  in  by  hills  from  500  to 
2,000  feet  high.  In  lat.  64  degrees  7  minutes  N,,  long  150  degrees 
8  minutes  W. ,  the  great  Tanana  river  adds  its  volume  to  the  Yukon. 

For  many  miles  on  the  lower  Yukon,  the  banks  are  devoid  of 
timber  other  than  a  stunted  growth  of  willow,  alder,  and  cotton 
wood.  The  first  spruce  is  seen  soroe  fifty  miles  below  the  Russian 
mission  at  Ikogmiut,  and  from  there  up  to  the  head  of  the  river  it  is 
more  or  less  belted  with  spruce,  fir,  hemlock,  birch,  alder  and 
Cottonwood.  The  lumber  is  so  checked  by  frost  and  full  of  knots, 
however,  as  to  be  useless  except  for  the  purposes  of  the  miners. 
Cranberries,  blueberries,  salmon  berries,  currants  and  raspberries 
abound.  An  abundance  of  grass  suitable  for  hay  is  found  on  the 
banks  of  the  streams,  but  away  from  the  water  courses  there  is  a 
dreary  expanse  of  thick  moss  which  excludes  flowers  and  small  vege- 
tation. 

Game  is  generally  very  scarce  in  the  Yukon  region.  Although 
signs  are  numerous  on  the  banks  of  the  main  river,  few  whites  have 
proved  successful  hunters  owing  to  difficulties  of  travel.  A  native, 
traveling  unimpeded,  can  scour  the  country,  and  being  familiar 
with  every  game  indication  could  gain  some  reward  for  his  exertions 
where  a  white  man  would  starve  to  death. 


DANGER  OF  STARVATION. 

Foremost  of  the  dangers  which  threaten  the  explorer  for  gold  is 
starvation,  not  freezing.  The  inland  snow-fall  of  three  feet  is  not 
much  of  a  drawback,  comparatively  speaking,  if  one  is  not  on  the 
trail,  in  which  case  he  is  liable  to  get  lost  in  drifts  fifteen  feet  deep. 
Neither  is  the  low  temperature  of  70"  below  zero  an  insurmountable 
obstacle.  Mere  low  temperature  can  be  provided  against  with  suf- 
ficient clothing  and  food  enough  of  the  right  kind.  The  difficulty  is 
starvation.      Prof.  W.  "H.  Dall  says:   "  It  is  a  country  in  which  it  is 

46 


)n 
ic 


very  hard  to  find  food,  as  there  is  practically  no  game.  Before  the 
whites  went  into  the  region  there  were  not  more  than  300  natives. 
They  have  hard  work  to  support  themselves  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  game." 

A  terrible  tale  of  suffering  and  death  from  hunger  is  given  by 
Frank  Moss,  an  old-time  Montana  miner,  who  was  one  of  the  first 
Americans  to  visit  the  Klondike,  and  who  returned  to  Great  Falls, 
Mont.,  in  July,  1897.  He  tells  a  story  of  horrors  and  starvation 
which  is  seldom  equalled  even  in  modern  novels,  and  which,  al- 
though contradicted  by  the  latest  reports,  we  give  for  what  it  may 
be  worth.  He  says  that  gold  abounds  at  Klondike,  but  no 
ordinary  man  can  stand  the  hardships  of  the  uncivilized  region. 
When  Moss  left  home  four  years  ago  he  was  a  sturdy  fellow  over 
six  feet  tall.  From  hardships  and  privations  he  is  a  cripple  for 
life  and  badly  broken  in  health.  In  three  years  he  saw  over 
2,000  graves  made  in  the  Klondike  basin,  a  large  majority  of 
their  occupants  dying  from  starvation.  The  steamship  companies 
bring  in  all  food  and  allow  no  private  importation.  Conse- 
quently it  is  not  uncommon  to  go  for  weeks  with  a  scant  sup- 
ply and  for  days  entirely  without  food.  With  the  great  crowds 
preparing  to  go  in  to  the  scene  now.  Moss  says  hunger  and  suffering 
will  be  great  when  added  to  other  hardships  to  be  overcome  by  those 
who  survive.  At  the  death  of  a  man  possessed  of  dust  his  body 
was  buried  without  a  coffin  and  the  dust  divided  among  those  who 
cared  for  him.  The  gold  brought  in  during  one  week  of  July  to 
Seattle,  Moss  says,  did  not  represent  the  findings  of  individual  ship- 
pers, but  a  large  proportion  was  confiscated  from  the  effects  of  these 
2,000  miners  who  fell  a  prey  to  the  hardships. 

Moss'  story,  however,  receives  a  flat  contradiction  from  F.  G. 
Bowker,  who  declares  that,  so  far  from  there  being  over  two  thous- 
and deaths  on  the  Klondike  during  the  last  three  years,  there  was 
nobody  there  to  die  until  less  than  a  year  ago,  and  since  then  there 
have  been  three  deaths  in  the  whole  district,  so  far  as  known.  In 
the  graveyard  at  Forty  Mile  Post,  which  has  served  for  all  that 
section  for  several  years,  there  are  only  thirty  or  forty  graves,  he  says. 

Birch  Stickney  died  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Lebarge.  His  partner 
offered  $200  for  a  man  to  accompany  him  to  Dawson  with  the  body, 
and,  getting  no  assistance,  made  the  trip  alone,  the  journey  requir- 
ing five  days.      Stickney's  was  the  first  body  buried  in  Dawson. 

Capt.  Hays  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  ship  Bertha^ 
speaking  of  the  Klondike  boom,  says: 


I 


47 


:l 


"The  fact  that  the  new  gold  fields  are  1,800  miles  from  St. 
Michael's  and  the  difficulties  of  transportation  are  innumerable  can- 
not be  too  forcibly  impressed  upon  the  intending  prospectors.  The 
newspapers  will  be  responsible  for  the  loss  of  many  lives  and  a  great 
deal  of  suffering  and  hardship  if  they  do  not  strongly  advise  the  pub- 
lic that  the  river  Yukon,  now  that  the  mountain  torrents  have 
ceased  running,  is  very  low,  and  consequently  much  of  the  five 
thousand  tons  of  supplies  now  awaiting  transportation  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  conveyed  to  their   lestination  for  some  time." 

The  Messrs.  Sloss,  of  the  Alaska  Company,  are  equally  frank, 
One  of  the  firm  says:  "  What  we  fear  most  is  that  the  excitement 
will  cause  many  people  to  rush  northward  without  properly  consider- 
ng  how  they  are  to  live  through  the  winter  after  they  get  there. 
We  have  now  about  5,000  tons  of  provisions  on  the  Yukon,  and  we 
are  sending  large  additional  quantities,  but  we  are  not  able  to  say 
whether  the  supply  will  be  equal  to  the  demand  nor  when  the  supplies 
will  reach  their  destination  with  any  certainty.  The  stern-wheel 
steamer  with  which  the  Excelsior  yiWX  connect  will  be  the  last  to  make 
the  Yukon  river  trip  this  season.  It  will  reach  Dawson  City  with  a 
barge  tow  in  September  and  must  immediately  return,  as  the  river 
usually  freezes  over  early  in  October."  The  Excelsior  sailed  from 
San  Francisco,  July  28,  1897. 

The  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  large  steamer  Arctic  was 
wrecked  in  the  ice  floe  this  spring  near  Forty  Mile.  Nothing  has 
been  saved  but  the  machinery.  There  are  enough  provisions  there 
at  present,  but  owing  to  the  loss  of  this  river  boat  it  is  believed  that 
there  will  be  a  shortage  this  winter. 

THE  STIklNE  RIVER  ROUTE. 

Among  the  new  routes  discussed  as  open  to  development  is  one 
from  Fort  Wrangel,  up  the  Stikine  river,  via  Telegraph  Creek,  the 
Lake  Teslin  Trail,  Lake  Teslin,  Hootalinqua  River,  to  the  Lewis 
River,  thence  by  the  water  courses  previously  described  in  the  Chil- 
koot  route  to  Dawson  City. 

The  Stikine  River  is  the  largest  in  southeastern  Alaska,  but  lies 
within  our  boundary  for  only  about  30  odd  miles.  The  interior  of 
the  country  adjoining  the  river  is  broken  into  a  succession  of  sharply 
defined  mountain  ranges,  separated  by  narrow,  deep  valleys,  similar 
to  those  between  the  islands  near  the  coast.  It  takes  its  rise  in  a 
chain  of  great  lakes,  and  its  banks  are  covered  with  glaciers, 
descending   from  the   snow-covered   peaks   on    either  side.      This 


48 


river  was  once  arched  by  a  glacier,  under  which  the  water  made  its 
course;  but  the  spring  freshets  have  washed  away  the  obstruction. 

One  wide  passage  from  the  Stikine  to  the  ocean  is  called  Sumner 
Strait.  Another  runs  up  along  the  coast  and  empties  into  Chatham 
Strait,  and  a  branch  of  it,  Stephen's  Passage,  extends  further  north, 
and  mingles  with  waters  from  Chilkat  inlet. 

The  Stikine  is  navigable  for  over  200  miles  by  stern-wheel 
steamers. 

After  leaving  Telegraph  Creek  the  traveler  strikes  straight  across 
the  smooth  table  land  for  about  175  miles.  Then  Teslin  Lake  is 
reached,  and  it  is  plain  sailing  clear  to  Dawson  City.  The  only 
dangerous  part  of  this  route  is  the  Five  dingers  rapids,  and 
these  are  not  bad  if  one  has  a  guide.  John  C.  Calbreath,  for  many 
years  a  resident  on  Telegraph  Creek,  has  been  directed  by  the  Brit- 
ish Columbia  Government  to  open  this  new  route,  and  $2,000  will 
be  expended  upon  it  immediately.  Steamboats  can  operate  up  Tele- 
graph Creek.  Even  now,  *  is  said,  the  trip  to  the  gold  fields  can 
be  made  with  less  danger  an^  more  quickly  by  this  route  than  by 
any  other.  It  is  open  usually  until  the  middle  of  October,  and 
sometimes  as  late  as  November. 

THE  DALTON  TRAIL  ROUTE. 

The  Dalton  trail,  through  the  Chilkat  Pass  to  the  Yukon  at  the 
Pelly  River,  is  also  attracting  much  attention  as  a  feasible  route,  and 
a  party  consisting  of  Henry  Bratnober,  the  agent  of  the  Exploration 
Company  of  London,  John  F.  Mahoney  and  Frank  Bach,  are  about 
to  start  over  the  route  to  demonstrate  its  practicability  for  passen- 
gers. Jack  Dalton,  its  discoverer,  has  already  started  over  it  with 
a  herd  of  cattle  for  the  mines.  After  passing  the  Chilkat  Pass,  the 
route  is  by  horseback  over  what  it  is  said  to  be  a  good  easy  trail 
for  450  miles  to  the  Pelly  River,  and  then  down  to  the  Klondike  by 
scows. 

Next  summer  there  will  unquestionably  be  a  wagon  road  con- 
structed through  Chilkat  Pass  to  the  gold  diggings,  seven  hundred 
miles  distant.  This  can  be  kept  open  most  of  the  year,  while  the 
Yukon  River  is  choked  with  ice  and  frozen  solid.  The  trip  through 
the  Chilkat  Pass,  which  is  an  all-land  route,  is  much  safer  than  the 
one  by  the  way  of  Dyea,  through  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  although  a 
little  longer.  It  has  been  made  from  the  missions  to  the  gold 
diggings  by  men  on  foot  in  summer  in  fourteen  days.  The  trail 
passes   through    the   Chilkat    Pass    and   over   a   prairie   route    en- 


ii 


tirely  by  land  to  Fort  Selkirk  where  the  Pelly  River  joins  the 
Yukon,  and  thence  by  water.  This  route  has  forty-two  horses  on  it 
for  baggage,  and  in  the  spring  it  is  promised  that  as  many  more 
will  be  provided  as  are  needed. 

James  Sheakley,  Governor  of  Alaska,  in  1894,  in  recommending 
the  establishment  of  mail  communication  between  Juneau  and  the 
Yukon  region,  remarked  that  the  distance  via  Chilkat  Pass  was 
longer  than  by  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  but  the  divide   was   much  lower. 

On  this  route  every  pound  of  luggage  must  be  carried  through 
the  pass  and  at  the  portages,  either  by  the  traveler  himself  or  on  the 
backs  of  Indians  or  mules.  There  are  but  few  Indians  to  be  hired, 
and  still  fewer  mules. 

WHITE   PASS   ROUTE. 

On  July  16,  1897,  the  White  Pass  route  was  opened.  This  route 
is  the  same  as  the  Chilkoot  Pass  route  except  for  a  few  miles  over 
the  mountains  at  the  start.  White  Pass  lies  just  east  of  and  parallel 
with  Ch'lkoot  Pass,  On  reaching  the  summit  the  traveler  steps 
upon  an  almost  level  country,  the  grade  to  the  lakes  being  twenty 
feet  to  the  mile.  The  distance  from  salt  water  to  the  Takish  Lake 
is  thirty  miles,  and  from  salt  water  to  the  head  of  Lake  Bennett 
the  distance  is  forty-five  miles.  Both  routes  from  the  summit  are 
through  rolling  country,  for  the  most  part  open,  with  plenty  of 
grass  for  feeding  stock,  water  and  sufficient  timber  for  all  purposes. 
From  salt  water  to  the  summit  stock  and  pack  horses  can  be  driven 
through  easily. 

THE  YUKON  ROUTE. 

The  longest  route,  by  way  of  St.  Michael  and  the  Yukon 
steamers,  is  about  3,800  miles  long,  1,800  miles  of  this  being  on  the 
Yukon.  Navigation  closes  on  the  Yukon  early  in  September,  and 
does  not  re-open  until  June. 

PICTURESQUE   SCENES   IN    DAWSON   CITY. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike  river  is  the  mushroom  mining  city 
of  Dawson,  for  which  miners  have  deserted  other  regions  in  their  ex- 
citement. All  the  lower  camps  are  deserted,  and  Dawson  is  on  the 
boom.  Money  is  plentiful  and  stores  and  business  houses  are 
flourishing.  There  are  several  townsites  at  the  mouth  of  the  Klon- 
dike, but  Dawson  seems  to  be  the  most  flourishing. 

Edgar  Misner,  son  of  our  ex-Minister  to  Central  America,  de- 
scribes his  arrival  in  Dawson  in  June,  1897.     "We  reached  Dawson 


about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  found  one  of  the  liveliest 
mining  camps  I  ever  saw.  There  are  about  4,000  people  here,  and 
saloons,  dance  halls,  and  restaurants  never  closed.  The  gambling 
tables  are  always  crowded  and  thousands  of  dollars  change  hands  in 
a  remarkably  short  time.  Men  who  this  time  last  year  did  not  have 
a  dollar  now  count  their  wealth  by  the  thousands.  Nearly  every- 
body has  a  sack  of  gold  dust  with  him  as  big  as  a  policeman's  club. 

"The  sun  sinks  out  of  sight  now  about  10:30  p.m.  and  comes 
up  about  3  A.M.  At  midnight,  however,  it  is  almost  as  light  as 
noonday.  There  is  no  night.  At  Dawson  there  is  a  little  sawmill, 
and  rough  houses  are  going  up  in  all  directions,  but  for  the  most 
part  it  is  a  city  of  tents.  On  the  shore  of  the  river  are  hundreds 
of  boats,  and  others  are  getting  in  every  day. 

"Klondike  has  not  been  one  particle  overrated.  I  have  seen 
gold  measured  out  by  the  bucketful.  Just  think  of  a  man  taking 
$700  out  of  one  pan  of  dirt.  Mrs.  Wilson,  wife  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company's  agent,  panned  $154  out  of  a  single  pan  in 
one  of  the  mines  I  am  to  take  charge  of.  This  is  without  doubt 
the  richest  gold  strike  the  world  has  ever  known. 

"  With  all  the  new  men  in  the  country  many  miles  of  new  ground 
will  be  prospected,  and  from  the  lay  of  the  land  I  think  other  gold 
fields  are  certain  to  be  located.  Of  course  every  foot  of  rich 
ground  has  an  owner,  so  the  newcomers  have  to  depend  on  new 
strikes.  Every  day  rumors  of  new  discoveries  reach  here,  which 
at  once  start  stampedes,  and  hundreds  rush  out  to  strike  claims. 

"This  rushing  out  is  awful  work.  You  have  to  race  through 
deep,  slushy  swamps  and  fight  millions  of  mosquitoes,  climbing 
mountains  covered  with  soft  moss  and  thick  brush.  It  is  very  hot  in 
the  middle  of  the  day.  Yesterday  the  thermometor  was  97,  and 
on  top  of  it  came  a  rumor  that  gold  had  been  found  on  a  creek 
seventy  miles  away.  So  at  night  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's 
steamer  Alice  started  for  the  creek  loaded  to  the  guards  with  men 
and  small  boats.  My  duties  kept  me  here,  but  my  brother  went  out 
with  the  rush  to  put  down  his  stakes.  The  gold  is  here,  and  the  man 
who  doesn't  get  some  of  it  has  himself  to  blame  for  it." 

One  will  find  more  gold  in  circulation  in  Dawson  than  he  ever 
saw  in  all  his  life.  Saloons  take  in  $3,000  to  $4,000  each  per  night. 
Men  who  have  been  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  gold  is  mined 
say  that  they  never  saw  such  quantities  taken  in  so  short  a  time. 

The  practical  owner  of  Dawson  City  is  Joseph  Ladue,  formerly 
of  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.     Mr.  Ladue  was  born  in   Schuyler  Falls,  the 


51 


town  adjoining  Plattsburg,  and  is  now  returning  to  Schuyler  Falls. 
He  is  forty-eight  years  old,  and  went  West  about  twenty  years 
ago.  After  ten  years  spent  in  the  Black  Hills  and  other  Western 
mining  districts,  he  journeyed  to  Alaska,  where  he  worked  two  or 
three  years  in  the  big  mine  on  Douglass  Island.  Seven  or  eight 
years  ago  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Co., 
and  since  then  he  has  been  engaged  in  trading  and  lumbering. 
He  was  stationed  last  fall  about  forty  miles  from  the  new  gold 
fields,  and,  hearing  many  reports  of  their  richness,  went  there  and 
thereby  mcde  his  fortune.  Mr.  Ladue  has  in  the  years  of  his  ab- 
sence made  two  or  three  strikes,  but  none  like  the  present,  and  his 
ownership  of  Dawson  City  will  make  him  a  rich  man.  He  has  been 
back  to  his  old  home  only  twice  in  twenty  years,  the  last  time 
having  been  two  years  ago,  and  then  he  said  he  would  return  in 
two  years.  Mr.  Ladue's  family  moved  to  Iowa  before  he  first  went 
West. 

r^a.rr.bling  Jeiio  and  aance  halls  have  already  opened  in  Dawson. 
Games  of  every  description  are  running,  and  some  of  the  miners 
play  very  heavily.  They  go  into  the  mining  camp  in  sheer  despera- 
tion at  the  loneliness  and  gloom  of  winter,  and  gamble  in  a  reckless 
manner  to  break  the  monotony.  It  is  said  to  be  hard  to  get  along  in 
Dawson  City  on  less  than  $50  a  day,  and  many  of  the  men  spend 
ten  times  that  much.  It  is  said  that  one  saloon  cleaned  up  $30,000 
in  three  weeks  this  summer. 

At  present  only  miners'  laws  rule  the  camp,  but  next  year  Daw- 
son City  will  be  incorporated  and  municipal  officers  elected.  The 
miners  are  reported  to  be  determined  that  order  shall  be  preserved 
at  all  hazards.  No  "sure-thing  "  gamblers  will  be  allowed  in  either 
Dawson  City  or  the  diggings. 

FREIGHT  RATES; 

Of  freight  rates,  it  must  be  said,  as  of  the  prices  of  commodities 
and  labor  given  in  this  pamphlet,  that  in  a  period  of  extraordinary 
excitement  like  the  present  they  are  liable  to  extreme  and  sudden 
fluctuations,  owing  to  the  inevitable  law  of  the  relations  of  supply 
and  demand.  Subject  to  the  foregoing  qualification,  the  following 
figures  will  give  an  idea  of  the  rates  by  steamship: 

From  San  Francisco  to  Juneau,  Sitka,  Douglass  Island,  Killisnoo 
Chilkoot  and  Pyramid  Harbor:  Flonr,  $12  per  ton;  groceries  and 
general  merchandise,  or  canned  goods,  $14  per  ton;  lumber,  $14 
per  ton;  dry  goods,  $14  per  ton. 


$t 


Rates  from  Portland,  Ore.,  to  these  points  are  $2  less  than  from 
San  Francisco;  from  Port  Townsend,  $4  less  than  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  from  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  $1  less  than  from  Port  Town- 
send. 

Once  arrived  in  Alaska,  the  avenues  of  intercommunication  are 
only  those  provided  by  nature.  There  are  no  railroads  or  wagon 
roads,  and  travel  is  performed  along  water  courses  and  lakes,  by 
means  of  canoes  and  rafts,  except  in  cases  of  such  rivers  as  the 
Yukon,  which  are  navigable  by  steamboats. 

Navigation  of  the  Yukon  is  generally  open  during  June,  July, 
August  and  half  of  September,  although  an  occasional  severe  winter 
will  close  the  mouth  of  the  river  till  July  ist. 

COST  OF    LABOR. 

The  ordinary  labor  supply  of  Alaska  consists  of  white  men  who 
receive  large  wages  as  skilled  workmen,  foremen  and  leaders  of 
gangs;  Chinamen,  who  usually  work  at  specialties,  and  in  the  fish- 
canneries,  on  contracts,  and  natives,  who  form  the  largest  class  and 
are  variously  employed.  The  ordinary  wages  in  the  settled  portions 
are  $3.00  to  $5.00  a  day  for  white  laborerer,  and  $1.50  to  $3.00  a 
day  for  natives.  But  these  figures  cannot  be  depended  on  to  apply 
to  the  gold  fields.  Dominion  Surveyor  Wm.  Ogilvie,  commenting 
on  the  rush  for  Klondike  from  other  rich  fields  in  that  district,  says 
that  men  cannot  be  got  to  work  for  love  or  money,  and  the  standard 
of  wages  is  $1.50  an  hour.  Some  of  the  claims  are  so  rich  that 
every  night  a  few  pans  of  dirt  is  sufificient  to  pay  all  the  hired 
help. 

An  attempt  was  recently  made  at  the  Klondike  diggings  to  cut  down 
wages  from  $15  to  $10  a  day,  but  most  of  the  men  struck  and  went 
back  to  Dawson,  as  they  said  they  could  not  work  for  less  than  $15 
and  pack  their  grub  in  over  the  trail.  The  trail  is  one  of  the  worst 
imaginable.  It  is  like  walking  through  rotten  straw.  The  country  is 
all  covered  with  moss  from  two  to  four  feet  deep,  and  when  the  frost 
is  out  about  twelve  inches,  one  goes  down  to  the  bottom  at 
every  step.  Many  miners  are  fifteen  miles  from  Dawson  and  they 
have  to  pay  twenty-eight  cents  a  pound  to  have  supplies  packed  in, 
but  when  it  freezes  up  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  sled  supplies  up  the 
river  and  creeks. 

In  some  sections  last  fall  $2  per  hour  was  common  wages,  and 
even  now  in  these  long  days  a  man  can  command  $1.50  per  hour  up 
there,  or  from  $15  to  $20  per  day.     The  river  steamers  cannot  keep 

53 


crews  this  summer,  for  all  run  away  to  the  mines  as  soon  as  they  get 
in  that  region.  Indians  are  all  the  help  that  can  be  kept,  and  even 
they  are  doing  something  in  the  line  of  locating  claims. 

COST  OF  LIVING. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  miner  going  into  the  Yukon  country  over  the 
difficult  and  dangerous  trail  from  the  head  of  Dyea  inlet,  to  carry 
any  considerable  quantity  of  supplies,  and  when  he  reaches  the  dig- 
gings he  is  necessarily  dependent  upon  traders  for  subsistence.  The 
prices  charged  by  these  traders  render  it  unprofitable  to  work  in 
gravel  yielding  less  than  $io  a  day  to  the  man;  hence  many  bars 
that  would  pay  under  ordinary  circumstances  are  abandoned  as  soon 
as  it  is  ascertained  that  they  do  not  pan  out  that  amount.  With 
prices  running  like  those  given  below,  a  man  working  only  3  months 
must  earn  good  wages  to  have  anything  left  after  paying  for  a  whole 
year's  supply  of  provision. 

Cost  of  shirts $5  00 

Boots,  per  pair 10  00 

Rubber  boots,  per  pair 25  00 

Caribou  hams,  each 40  00 

Bacon,  per  pound 75 

Coffee,  per  pound i  00 

Sugar,  per  pound 50 

Condensed  milk,  per  can i  00 

Live  dogs,  per  pound 2  00 

Picks,  each i  c  o(  > 

Cordwood,  per  cord ^5  ( > 

Lumber  at  mill  in  Dawson,  per  thousand  feet 130  00 

Slabs,  each . ,  50 

Sawdust,  per  sack '  10 

Flour,  per  cwt '   o  00 

Fresh  beef,  per  lb.,  $1.00  to 2  00 

Ordinary  shovels,  each i  S  00 

Kggs,  not  fresh  by  many  weeks,  per  dozen 5  00 

Beans,  per  lb 20 

Rice,      "     " 25 

Lard,     "     " 35 

Crackers,  per  pound 25 

Whiskey,  per  drink 50 

MAIL  SERVICE  IN  THE  YUKON  COUNTRY. 

Prospectors  going  into  the  Yukon  region  must  expect  to  be  cut 
off  almost  entirely  from  communication  with  the  outside  world. 
There  is  no  regular  mail  service  in  Alaska.  Between  ports,  mails 
are  sent  by  steamers  when  possible.      Inland,    mail  is  carried  over- 

54 


land  at  rare  intervals,  at  great  expense,  and  amid  great  danger.  As 
illustrative  of  the  latter,  we  .nay  cite  the  experience  of  Mail  Carriers 
Hugh  Day  and  O.  E.  Carr,  who  arrived  at  Juneau  from  the  gold 
fields  July  6th.  The  trips  for  both  Day  and  Carr  going  in  were 
arduous  ones.  More  especially  is  this  true  as  to  Carr,  who  had  to 
encounter  so  much  broken  ice.  Day's  trip  completes  the  Hays-Day 
contract.  Carr  says  that  between  Forty  Mile  and  Circle  City  h^  re- 
peatedly broke  through  the  ice,  and  finally  was  compelled  to  make 
a  boat  from  oiled  canvas,  using  willows  for  a  frame.  This  he  placed 
on  his  sled,  so  that  when  he,  with  his  dogs,  went  through  the  ice  his 
provisions  and  mail  would  buoy  up.  He  waded  the  river  the  last 
few  miles,  while  at  times  his  dogs  were  compelled  to  swim.  How- 
ever, both  parties  brought  through  the  mail  successfully,  but  only 
through  pluck  and  perseverance.  Day  says  he  would  not  take  an- 
other winter  contract  for  less  than  $3,000  per  round  trip,  which 
statement  will  not  be  very  encouraging  to  the  present  contractors, 
who  get  but  ,$600.  It  is  said  to  be  likely,  however,  that  the  new 
contractors  will  not  begin  the  task,  much  less  complete  it. 

SUB-PORT  OF  ENTRY  AT  DYEA. 


On  July  23,  1897,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Gage  decided  to 
establish  a  sub-port  of.  entry  at  Dyea.  This  action  was  taken  as  the 
result  of  an  application  to  the  Treasury  Department  by  Canada  for 
permission  for  Canadian  vessels  to  enter  at  Dyea  and  land  passen- 
gers and  baggage  there.  It  was  desired  to  save  passengers  the  an- 
noyance of  disemb.arking  ai.  Juneau  and  awaiting  another  steamer 
for  Dyea,  the  head  of  navigation  on  tnl.  route  to  the  Yukon  frontier. 
The  granting  of  the  application  would  have  made  it  necessary  in  all 
cases  of  vessels  clearing  for  Dyea  to  give  a  special  permit  to  the 
deputy  at  Juneau  in  the  case  of  each  vessel.  In  order  to  obviate 
this  difificulty  the  Secretary  of  '-he  Treasury  made  Dyea  a  sub-port 
of  entry  in  the  district  of  Al  iska.  This  action  was  taken  under 
the  authority  of  the  act  of  March  16,  1896,  which  authorizes  the 
Secretary  to  establish  sub-ports  at  such  places  in  Alaska  as  he  may 
deem  proper. 

The  Canadian  Government  has  been  informed  of  the  decision  to 
create  a  subport  of  entry  at  Dyea  for  the  benefit  of  British  shippers 
of  supplies  for  the  gold  district.  Vessels  carrying  men,  provisions 
and  supplies  will  be  allowed  to  proceed  past  Juneau  to  Dyea,  where 
the  supplies  are  to  be  put  in  bond  and  shipped  over  the  short  inter- 

55 


vening  stre'.ch  of  United  States  territory  to  the  British  Columbia 
boundary  line,  and  thence  to  the  Klondike  fields. 

All  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  agreed  upon  the  course  to 
be  taken.  In  the  brief  discussion  over  the  matter  it  was  pointed 
out  that  it  was  not  only  a  neighborly  action  to  take,  but  would  be 
helpful  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  as  well.  About  nine-tenths 
of  the  men  now  in  the  gold  belt  belong  to  this  country,  it  was  said, 
and  a  failure  to  make  the  concession  might  deprive  American  citi- 
zens of  needed  supplies.  It  was  also  intimated  that  if  the  privilege 
were  denied  by  this  Government  Canada  might  take  up  the  matter, 
and  by  way  of  retaliation  restrict  operations  in  the  part  of  the  gold 
fields  of  Canadian  soil  to  citizens  of  that  country. 

INFORMATION  FOR  THE  GOVERNHENT. 

An  evidence  of  how  deeply  the  Klondike  excitement  has  taken 
hold  of  the  Government  appears  in  the  announcement  made  at 
Washington  July  24th,  that  in  recognition  of  the  importance  of  the 
gold  discoveries  in  Alaska  and  adjoining  territory,  and  in  obedience 
to  the  widespread  demand  for  authentic  information  in  regard  there- 
to, the  Commissioner  of  Labor  has  detailed  from  his  regular  force 
an  expert,  thoroughly  familiar  with  all  the  features  of  gold  mining, 
to  proceed  immediately  to  the  Klondike  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
careful  and  exhaustive  study  of  the  conditions  as  they  exist,  there. 
It  is  the  intention  of  the  Commissioner  to  embody  the  facts  in  a 
special  report  or  bulletin  of  the  department,  which  will  appear  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible.  This  is  a  subject  of  absorbing  interest  to 
all  classes,  and  in  making  this  investigation  the  Commissioner  feels 
that  he  is  working  in  the  interest  of  the  unemployed.  Such  a  report 
as  that  contemplated,  giving  the  unbiased  facts  as  to  the  opportun- 
ities for  the  investment  of  capital  and  the  employment  of  labor, 
wages,  cost  of  living,  etc.,  he  believes  will  be  of  great  value  to  the 
people  of  this  country. 

CONGRESSIONAL  COnniTTEES. 

As  it  is  probable  that  the  Alaskan  furor  now  developed  by  these 
revelations  of  marvelous  mineral  riches  will  secure  for  that  much 
neglected  territory  a  generous  measure  of  Congressional  attention 
next  winter,  we  give  herewith  the  names  of  the  Committees  on 
Territories  and  Public  Lands  appointed  by  Speaker  Reed  on  July 
24,  1897: 

Territories — William   S.   Knox,   Massachusetts;  P.  B.  Low,  New 

56^ 


■Ml'" 


York;  Cass  Broderick,  Kansas;  Loren  Fletcher,  Minnesota;  M. 
Grififin,  Wisconsin;  William  J.  Foote,  Jr.,  New  York;  J.  A.  Hemen- 
way,  Indiana;  William  S.  Mesick,  Michigan,  Republicans.  William 
McAleer,  Pennsylvania;  A.  J.  Hunter,  Illinois;  John  A.  Moon, 
Tennessee;  John  W.  Gransford,  Texas;  James  M.  Griggs,  Georgia; 
Marcus  A.  Smith,  Arizona,  and  H.  B.  Ferguson,  New  Mexico, 
Democrats. 

Public  Lands — John  F.  Lacey,  Iowa;  William  R.  Ellis,  Oregon; 
Samuel  S.  Barney,  Wisconsin;  Monroe  H.  Kulp,  Pennsylvania;  F.  C. 
Stevens,  Minnesota;  C.  D.  Sheldon,  Michigan;  Daniel  M.  Mills, 
Illinois;  Frank  M.  Eddy,  Minnesota,  Republicans.  John  F.  Sha- 
froth,  Colorado,  Silver  Republican.  Rudolph  Kleberg,  Texas;  James 
H.  Lewis,  Washington;  James  R.  Campbell,  Illinois;  Marion 
De  Vries,  California;  David  Meekison,  Ohio,  and  Marcus  A.  Smith, 
Arizona,  Democrats. 

BRITISH    MINING    REGULATIONS. 

The  laws  which  govern  mining  claims  in  British  North  America 
— and  these  apply  to  the  Klondike  and  Stewart  River  regions — may 
be  summarized  as  follows: 

A  Bar  Digging  consists  of  a  strip  of  land,  loo  feet  wide  from 
high  water  mark,  and  extending  along  the  river  to  low  water  mark. 
The  side  lines  of  such  a  digging  are  to  be  at  right  angles  with  the 
stream  and  parallel  with  each  other,  and  marked  by  four  mere-stones 
or  legal  posts.  One  of  these  posts  must  bear  the  name  of  the 
owner  and  date  when  he  staked  the  claim.  Dry  Diggings  are 
loo  feet  square,  and  must  be  marked  with  posts  as  above  indicated. 
River  Claitns  are  500  feet  along  the  river,  and  extending  from 
base  to  base  of  hill  on  either  side.  Where  the  distance  between 
such  bases  is  less  than  100  feet,  the  width  may  be  extended  to  a  full 
hundred.  The  ends  of  the  claim  are  de-limited  by  lines  running  at 
right  anglee  to  the  course  of  the  stream.  The  claim  must  be 
marked  by  legal  posts,  one  of  which  shall  bear  the  name  of  the 
claimant  and  the  date  of  staking.  A  Bench  Claim  is  100  feet  square, 
measured  horizontally,  irrespective  of  the  unevenness  of  the  ground. 
A  New  Mine,  if  discovered,  entitles  the  discoverer  to  a  bar  digging 
claim  of  750  feet.  A  new  stratum  of  gold-bearing  "dirt,"  even  if 
found  in  a  locality  where  claims  have  been  abandoned,  is  accounted  a 
new  mine.  Forms  of  Applications  for  a  grant,  and  Forms  for  Grants 
of  the  same,  must  conform  with  the  standard  prescribed  by  the 
Gold  Commissioner.      Claims  must  be  recorded  "fi'xih  Xht  Gold   Com- 

57 


missioner  in  whose  district  it  is  located,  within  three  days  from  the 
date  of  location,  if  not  over  ten  miles  irom  the  Commissioner's 
office.  If  it  is  more  than  ten  miles  distant,  one  day  additional  for 
every  ten  miles  is  allowed  for  recording.  The  claim  must  be  stakea 
personally  by  the  applicant,  and  an  affidavit  that  the  applicant  him- 
se'f  staked  the  claim  must  accompany  the  application.  The  entry 
fee  is  $15;  the  annual  tax  $100,  and  the  royalty  10  per  cent,  on 
annual  outputs  of  $500  or  less,  and  20  per  cent,  on  outputs  of  over 
$500.  The  entry  of  every  placer  grant  must  be  renewed  annually, 
at  an  expense  of  $15,  the  old  receipt  being  relinquished  and  a  new 
receipt  obtained.  After  recording  a  claim,  the  removal  of  a  post 
by,  or  on  behalf  of,  the  owner,  for  the  purpose  of  altering  the 
boundary,  works  2l  forfeit  of  the  claim.  A  miner  may  be  granted  but 
one  claim  in  a  given  locality,  but  he  can  hold  as  many  claims  as  he 
likes  by  purchase.  Partnership  arrangements  must  be  registered 
with  the  Gold  Commissioner,  at  a  cost  of  $5.  A  miner  has  exclusive 
right  of  entry  upon  his  own  claim  for  working  the  same  and  build- 
ing a  residence,  and  exclusive  title  to  the  proceeds  therefrom,  but 
no  stirface  rights,  and  the  Gold  Commissioner  may  grant  adjacent 
miners  the  privilege  of  such  entry  thereon  as  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  working  of  their  claims.  He  may  also  permit 
miners  to  cut  timber  for  their  own  use,  A  miner  is  entitled  to  the 
use  of  water  flowing  through,  or  by,  his. claim,  to  such  extent  as  the 
Gold  Commissioner  shall  determine  to  be  necessary  for  the  working 
of  the  same. 


CAPITAL  AND  ENTERPRISE. 

DEVELOPMENT    COMPANIES. 

The  possibilities  offered  by  the  new  discoveries  have  stimulated 
the  formation  of  many  development  companies  for  operation  in 
Alaska,  Among  them  is  the  Alaska  Cooperative  Gold  Mining  and 
Development  Co.,  with  headquarters  at  76  Park  Place,  New  York, 
elsewhere  advertised.  The  proposed  incorporators  are  men  engaged 
in  different  lines  of  business,  and  it  is  their  purpose  to  avoid  illegiti- 
mate speculative  methods  and  to  conduct  their  business  in  a  business 
man's  way. 

TO  DAWSON   FROM  NEW  YORK. 

The  Pacific  Mining  and  Trading  Co.,  capital  $100,000,  shares 
$10  each,  with  headcjuarters  at  2  Macon  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
have  secured  a  vessel  that  sails  with  both  cargo  and  passengers  from 
New  York  about  September  loth  to  Dawson,  via  Magellan  Straits, 
calling  at  San  Francisco  ard  Seattle,  and  expecting  to  reach  the 
Yukon  ahead  of  others  by  at  least  two  weeks.     The  fare  is  §350- 

58 


tl 


THE    ADDICKS    SYNDICATE. 

The  first  large  P2astern  capitalist  to  embark  seriously  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  upper  Yukon  country  is  J.  Edward  Addicks  of 
Delaware.  His  attention  was  seriously  directed  to  the  region  early 
n  1897,  by  George  B.  Kittinger,  a  mining  engineer,  who  had  been 
for  two  years  in  the  Cariboo  section  of  British  Columbia,  which  is 
at  the  head  waters  of  the  southern  feeders  to  the  Klondike  and 
Yukon  rivers.  With  characteristic  shrewdness  Mr.  Addicks  quietly 
incorporated  "  The  Yukon-Cariboo  British  Columbia  Gold  Mining 
Development  Company,"  secured  men  who  are  British  subjects  as 
local  trustees  for  the  corporation,  and  to-day  has  on  the  ground  and 
en  route  several  thoroughly  equipped  corps  of  miners,  engineers  and 
packmen.  Former  Governor  John  H.  McGraw  of  the  State  of 
Washington,  and  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Seattle, 
sailed  in  July,  1897,  in  charge  of  the  last  party  dispatched  by  the 
Addicks  syndicate.  Among  the  directors  are  bank  presidents  in 
several  of  the  large  cities  of  the  country.  Also  in  the  list  are 
E.  F.  J.  Gaynor,  Auditor  Manhattan  Elevated  Railroad  Company, 
New  York ;  Sylvester  T.  Everett,  Cleveland,  O. ;  Camille  Wieden- 
feld,  banker.  No.  44  Wall  street.  New  York;  former  Governor  John 
H.  McGraw,  Seattle;  Philo  D.  Beard,  Buffalo;  John  Laughlin,  Buf- 
falo; Benjamin  Butterworth,  Commissioner  of  Patents,  Washington, 

D.  C. ;  Charles  H.  Kittinger,  Wilmington,  Del.,  and  J.  M.  Buxton, 
M.  E.,  Vancouver,  B.  C.  The  corporation  is  incorporated  with 
J.  Edward  Addicks  as  president,   C.    H.    Kittinger,   secretary,  and 

E.  F.  J.  Gaynor,  treasurer. 

This  company  confidently  expects  to  land  the  first  large  con- 
signment of  Klondike  gold  dust  and  nuggets  in  New  York.  A 
returning  party  is  believed  to  be  on  its  way  to  Vancouver  at 
this  time. 

Mr.  Addicks  says  that  the  wealth  of  the  upper  Yukon  has  been 
fully  known  to  him  for  a  long  time,  and  that  he  did  not  take  a  step 
until  he  had  special  reports  from  men  of  absolute  trustworthiness. 
He  left  for  Vancouver  in  July.  He  will  not  go  to  Alaska  himself 
this  year,  but  he  wants  to  establish  a  depot  of  supplies  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  to  secure  steamers  for  next  season.  One  of  the 
parties  already  en  route  to  Dawson  carries  a  great  quantity  of  pro- 
visions which  will  be  cached,  if  necessary,  in  the  Chilkoot  Pass  be- 
tween Juneau  and  Lake  Linderman  on  the  way  to  the  gold  fields. 
That  party  does  not  intend  that  its  successors  shall  starve. 


59 


PORTABLE    HOUSES. 

As  previously  mentioned,  while  speaking  of  the  lumber  laws  of 
Alaska,  there  is  practically  no  lumber  industry,  and  lumber  has  to 
be  carried  from  the  States.  A  great  convenience  to  residents  and 
prospective  settlers  is  afforded  by  the  Ducker  patent  portable 
houses,  of  which  we  give  an  illustration  herewith.  These  houses 
are  practical,  strong  and  durable,  made  of  carefully  selected  ma- 
terials, and  easily  erected  and  taken  down,  without  the  use  of  nails, 
screws  or  any  external  appliances,  no  skilled  labor  being  required. 
Taking  into  consideration  their  simplicity  of  construction,  size  and 


accommodation,  the  cost  is  said  to  be  less  than  any  other  building 
used  for  a  similar  purpose.  They  are  made  principally  of  hard 
wood,  consisting  of  strong  sectional  frames  (for  facility  of  trans- 
portation) filled  in  on  the  outside  and  inside  with  wood  panels  of  a 
combined  thickness  of  one  and  one-half  inches.  Each  section  is 
tongued  and  grooved,  and  when  fastened  the  joints  are  air-tight. 
They  cost  from  $50  to  $2000  each,  and  are  made  by  the  Ducker 
Portable  House  Co.,  26  Cortlandt  Street,  New  York.  A  number 
will  be  sent  overland  as  soon  as  arrangements  are  made,  and  late  in 
the  fall  the  firm  will  load  a  vessel  and  send  it  by  way  of  Cape  Horn 
around  to  Seattle,  in  time  for  the  spring  immigration. 

60 


a 

tl 


PLACER    AND    QUARTZ    WORKING    METHODS. 

Considerable  attention  and  painstaking  research  has  for  years 
past  been  given  to  the  subject  of  working  ores  and  placer  ground 
for  obtaining  therefrom  the  free  gold  and  concentrates  at  the  lowest 
possible  cost.  Necessarily  mechanical  means  have  been  resorted  to 
and  with  more  or  less  success.  Prominently  among  the  active  and 
successful  men  devoting  their  energies  in  this  direction  is  J.  H. 
Lancaster,  123  Liberty  Street,  New  York,  who  for  years  past  has 
done  more  than  any  other  concern  in  the  perfection  and  intro- 
duction of  succesful  machinery  for  handling  placers  and  reducing 
and  treating  ores  of  all   kinds.     On  another  page  is  described  the 


"Lancaster  "  hand  power  placer  apparatus  and  above  is  illustrated 
a  steam  power  placer  digging  machine  which  more  rapidly  furnishes 
the  gold  bearing  gravel  to  the  sluicing  apparatus.  This  latter  is 
built  in  sizes  to  correspond  with  the  capacity  of  the  automatic  dig- 
ger ;  power  for  same  is  transmitted  to  the  sluicing  apparatus  thus 
saving  manual  labor. 

The  "Lancaster"  Drilling  and  Frost  Thawing  Apparatus  for 
working  the  hard  frozen  ground  in  Alaska  is  a  most  important  ad- 
junct to  the  above  machine.  It  drills  deep  holes  and  supplies  steam 
and  hot  water  thereto  for  thawing  out  the  frost  and  thus  loosening 
and  making  the  gravel  and  sand  beds  more  readily  workable.  The 
outfit  fills  every  requirement  for  the  rapid,  economical  and  success- 
ful working  of  the  placer  material  found  in  the  Arctic  regions 
as  well  as  that  found  in  the  warmer  climates. 


61 


BEFORE    THE    KLONDIKE    EXCITEMENT. 

The  news  from  the  Klondike  is,  perhaps,  the  first  intimation  that 
a  great  many  otherwise  well  informed  poeple  have  had  of  the  enor- 
mous riches  of  the  Alaska  Territory;  but  for  all  that,  a  great  deal 
of  American  capital  had  been  quietly  invested  in  the  rich  gold  bear- 
ing territory  prior  to  the  general  publicity  now  given  through  the 
news  columns.  One  of  the  most  interesting  cases  is  that  of  the 
Admiralty  Island,  Alaska,  Gold  Mining  and  Development  Company, 
with  offices  at  38  Park  Row,  New  York,  and  Mattawan,  New  Jersey. 
This  Company  became  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  New  Jersey 
in  January  last  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000  in  shares  of  the  par 
value  of  $1  each.  The  officers  are:  T.  M.  Antisell,  President;  M. 
P.  Moseley,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager;  W.  B.  Bankhead, 
Secretary;  and  H.  A.  Hickok,  Treasurer.  It  appears  that  about 
two  year's  ago  the  gentlemen  identified  with  the  undertaking,  under 
the  guidance  of  their  president,  Mr.  Antisell,  who  is  a  miner  of  forty 
years'  successful  experience,  fitted  out  an  expedition  and  visited  the 
gold  fields.  They  secured  certain  remarkably  rich  mining  proper- 
ties situated  on  Admiralty  Island,  about  225  miles  from  Juneau. 
There  are  seven  mines  in  all,  as  follows: 

The  Lenora 600  x  i ,  500  feet. 

The  Sardonyx 600  x  i ,  500  ' ' 

The  United  States 600  x  1,500  " 

The  Gibraltar 600  x  r ,  500  ' ' 

The  Ophir   .    600  x  i ,  500  ' ' 

The  Hidden  Treasure 600  x  1,500  " 

The  Alaska  King 600  x  1,500  " 

With  each  of  the  above  named  properties  there  is  a  mill-site  and 
water-right  concession,  duly  recorded.  The  mill  sites  contain  a 
little  less  than  five  acres.  A  vessel  can  anchor  within  1,000  feet  of 
the  mines.  Work  can  be  carried  on  throughout  the  entire  year. 
The  ore  found  on  these  properties  is  beautiful  free-milling  quartz 
which  can  be  reduced  into  marketable  bullion  at  exceptionally  low 
cost.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  "Mother  lode"  of  the 
Alaskan  gold  fields  is  on  this  Company's  territory.  Just  across  the 
channel  is  the  property  of  the  Alaska  Treadwell  Company,  the  rich- 
est and  largest  gold  mines  in  the  world,  paying  $500,000  annual 
dividends  on  a  capitalization  of  $5,000,000.  The  Admiralty  Island 
Gold  Mining  and  Development  Co.  is  not  a  speculative  "fake," 
having  been  organized  long  before  the  Klondike  craze  began. 
Those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  secure  stock  are  confidently 
promised   rich   rewards. 

63 


INDEX. 


i'A(;k. 

Addicks  syndicate    59 

Admiralty  Island 62 

Alaska,  boundary  .[uestion 19 

civil  government 13 

climate,  seasons,  days 10 

contradictory  physical  feature     4 

discovery 6 

geography 7 

history 6 

physical  description ...     8 

population 8 

public  lands 14 

purchase 7 

Bears  on  the  Klondike 22 

Behring,  Vitus 6 

Best  number  for  a  party 37 

Boat  Building 43 

Boundary  question 19 

Canadian  Mining  Laws 18,  57 

Chilkat  Pass  Route 49 

Chilkoot  Pass  Route 38 

Climate 10 

Clothing 34 

Committee  on  Public  Lands 57 

Committee  on  Territories   56 

Congressional  Committees 56 

Cook  Inlet 24 

Cormack,  George,  discovery  by 22 

Cost  of  labor 53 

Cost  of  living 54 

Cost  of  outfit 33 

Cost  of  "packing  " 41 

Cost  of  trip 35 

Customs  laws 18 

Dalton  Trail 49 

Dawson  City 50 

Day,  length  of , 12,  51 

Dease  Lake 44 

Debilitating  Life 37,  47 

Distances 30 

Dyea  River  and  Canyon 39 

Dyea,  sub-port ,..   55 

Fares  to  the  Klondike 32 

Five  Fingers 44 

Food  supply 34,  47 

Forests 9 

Fort  Reliance 45 

Fort  Selkirk 44 

Fort  ^Yukon 4G 

Fortunes  made 25,  51 

Forty  Mile,  recent  discoveries...     30,  45 

Freight  rates 52 

Gambling ,  52 

Game 13,  45,  4^ 

Gold  belt 6,  20,  29 

Gold  mines 21 

Gold  output,  1896 27 

1897   28 

Government 13 

Hardships — fewer  a  year  hence 5 

Information  for  Government 56 

Juneau  City 37 


FAGS 

Juneau  City  land  titles i6 

Juneau,  Joseph,  discovery  by 20 

Klondike,  craze 3,  24 

discovery 22 

location 25 

meaning 25 

miners'  government 14 

Labor,  cost  of 53 

Ladue,  Joseph 51 

Laws,  how  administered 13,  14 

Le  Barge  Lake 43 

Lewis  River 42,  44 

Linderman  I  ,ake 41 

Liquor  traffic   14 

Mail  service 54 

Marsh  Lake 42 

Meteorological  reports 10 

Mining  and  Methods 21,  29,  61 

Mining  claims 17.  57 

Miners'  government 18 

Mud  Lake 42 

Navigation  of  Yukon..  11,  12,  48,  50,  53 

Neighboring  attractions 30 

Outfit 32 

''  Packing,"  cost  of 41 

Pelly  River 44 

Placer  deposits 21 

Placer  deposits,  how  made 29 

i'lacer  -^^olil.  how  mini  d    29 

Portable  I  louses 60 

Prices  of  provisions 54 

Public  Lands  and  Land  Laws 14 

Quart/,  lodes 21,45 

Rate  of  travel 31 

Recording  districts 17 

Robbery 37 

Salmon   fishing 22 

Seal  rookeries S 

Seasons 10 

Sheep  Camp 40 

Sixty  Mile  Creek 45 

Snow  blindness 42 

Snow  slides 40 

Starting  out  for  the  mines 37 

Starvation 35,  46 

Stewart  River 45 

Stewart  River  discoveries 30 

Stikine  River  Route 48 

Surveyor  General  created 17 

Takish  Lake 42 

Taxes 17 

Telegraph  Creek 49 

Toll  roads,  resolution  for 6 

Treasures  untouched 28 

Trutli  of  Klondike  stories 4 

Wages 53 

What  to  take 32 

White  Pass  Route 50 

White  River 45 

Yukon  River 44 

Yukon  River  Route 50 

Yukon  sleigh 39 


\ 


KLONDrKE  AND  COLD! 

The  Chance  of  a  Lifetime! 

Shares   Now  Selling  at  $5.00  each. 

One-Fifth  Shares  $1.00  each. 

Perhaps  these  shares  will  be  worth  some  day  $100.00  each.      WHO    KNOWS? 
Write   for   Prospectus   and    Subscription    Blanks. 

ALASKA  GO-OPERATIVE  GOLD  MINING  AND  DEVELOPMENT  GOMPX 

76   Park   Place,    New   York. 


"A   HOUSE   BUILT  IN  A  DAY." 


ALL  KINDS  OF 


Portable  Houses 

quickly  delivered  anywhere  and  can  be  erected  or  taken  down 
without  expert  help.  Stronger  and  more  durable  than  per- 
manent houses  as  ordinarily  constructed,  and  particularly 
adapted  for  mining  purposes. 


COMFORTABLE  IN  ALL  GRADES  OF  TEMPERATURE. 


PRICES    MODERATE. 


Send  Two  Cent  Stamp  for  Illustrations. 


Dueller  Portable  House  Co., 

26  Cortland t  Street,  New  York. 


Admiralty  Island,  Alaska, 

Gold  Mining:  and 

Development  Company. 


/ 


CIPITll,  $1,000,000.        PIH  VIIUE,  SI.OO  PER  SHIRE. 

THE    STOCK    IS    FULL-PAID   AND    NON-ASSESSABLE. 

INCORPORAJ  Kl),  FEBRUARY.  1897. 


OFFICERS. 

T.  M.  ANTISELL,  I'reiident.  \V.   li.  HA NKHF. AD,  Secretary. 

M.  I>.  MOSELKY.  Vice-President.  II.  A.   HICKOCK,  Treasurer. 


T.  M.  ANTISELL. 
.\I.  l\  MOSELEY. 


l>IRKCTOR«.a 

H.  A.  HICKOCK. 
I!.  F.  HARNETE. 


W.  B.  HANKHEAD 
W.  C.  WESTON. 


This  Company  owns  seven  mines,  wliich  are  among  the  largest  in  .Maska. 
With  each  of  these  properties  there  is  a  mill  site  and  water  power,  duly 
recorded,  together  with  all  deeds  of  entry,  in  the  office  of  the  Recorder  of 
Harrisburg  Mining  District,  Juneau,  Alaska.  These  Mines  are  estimated  to 
contain  20,000,000  tons  of  ore,  and  when  developed  may  yield  $120,000,000 
net.  It  is  the  intention  of  this  Company  to  send  a  representative  to  the 
Klondike  field  by  January,  who  will  locate  claims  for  the  benefit  of  the 
shareholders  of  this  Company.  Tiie  Mines  already  owned  and  tliose  our 
prospectors  mav  locate  in  the  Klondike  District  and  Yukon  country  makes 
it  not  only  possible  but  probable  to  realize  $100,000  on  every  §1,000  invested. 
We  are  not  dependent  upon  our  anticipated  holdings  in  the  Klondike,  but 
base  the  value  of  our  stock  on  our  actual  holdings. 

THIS  IS  A  RARE  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  EITHER  THE  LARGE 
OR  SMALL  INVESTOR. 

Only  a  limited  amount  of  Stock  will  be  sold* 

We  invite  the  closest  investigation. 


NEW  YORK  OFFICE, 

38  Park  Row,  Room  50. 


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THE 


Pacific  Mining  &  Trading  Co, 


U£ 


CAPITAL,  $60,000.  SHARES,  $10.00  EACH. 


PULL-     PKIO.         NON-KSSESSHBL-e. 


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We  have  secured  a  vessel  that  sails  with  both  cargo  and  passengers  from  New 
York  about  September  loth,  direct  to  Dawson,  calling  at  San  Francisco  and  Seattle, 
and  reaching  the  Yukon  ahead  of  others,  by  at  least  two  weeks.  We  have  equipped 
the  vessel  with  every  requisite  for  an  early  arrivit.  and  every  convenience  for  prospect- 
ing, trading  and  supplying  the  necessaries  of  our  passengers  for  at  least  one  year's 
stay.  Expert  miners,  newspaper  men,  doctors  and  business  men  will  make  up  our 
oarty  and  co-operation  will   be  the  main  element  in  our  vent     r.     We  have  capital, 

)rains,  experience  and  determination,  and  those  who  desire  tn  embrace  this  oppor- 

unity  of  a  lifetime  will  be  wise  to  take  the  advantages  we  offer. 

TWO    CHANCES    FOR    GOLD!! 

$350  carries  you  direct  to  Dawson  via  Magellan  Straits,  where  recent  gold  dis- 
5vcries  have  been  made.  Our  crew  will  prospect  there  for  two  months,  which  is  the 
immer  season  there,  and,  if  successful  in  discovering  gold  deposit,  will  arrange  for 
orking  it.  Those  who  dtsire  can  remain  there  while  the  vessel  proceeds  on  her 
urney  to  Dawson,  the  main  reason  for  the  early  start  being  that  we  gain  opportunity 
ascertain  if  the  report  of  rich  deposits  found  at  Magellan  are  true,  and  if  so,  take 
vantage  of  them  in  a  region  closer  tc  home,  easier  of  access  and  less  trying  to 
-alth. 

Those  taking  passage  with  us  will  enjoy  the  advantage  of  cost  prices  on  additional 
s   pplies  furnished  from  our  ships  stores. 

''  *      *      *      The  expedition  is  the  result  of  a  number  of  conferences  held  by 
!    siness  men,  who  see  an  opportunity  to  make  money.     Everything  has  been  mapped 
;  with  the  greatest  care,  and   so  far  as  human  foresight  can  be  depended  upon, 
>  hing  will  be  neglected." — N.   Y.  Journal,  August  2. 

Experienced  miners  and  mining  engineers  will  be  placed  in  charge  of  party  and 
'.    1  extend  their  assistance  to  those  unfamiliar  with  prospecting  for  gold. 

We  are  closing  our  arrangements  rapidly  and  if  you  are  desirous  of  joining  us,  or 
i  :    jsting  in  the  enterprise,  we  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you  at  once. 


THE  PACIFIC  MINING  &  TRADING  CO. 


00 


197    FULTON    STREET, 


BROOKLYN,    N.  Y. 


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rbc 


Yvihon  Cariboo- 
Britieb  Columbia 
Gold  ]yiining 
Development  Co, 


Capital  $5,000,000. 


•sf* 


Shares  $1  each,  t 


FULL    PAID. 


NON-ASSESSABLE. 


J.  EDWARD  ADDICKS,  President. 

Clayninnt,  Delaware. 

E.  F.  J.  GAYNOR,   Treasurer, 

Auditor  Manhattan  K.  R.  Co  ,  New  York  City. 

CHARLES  H.  KITTINGER,  Secretary, 

60  Broadway,  New  York  City.  Harrison  Building,  Plilladelphla. 


This  Company  is  formed  to  explore  and  develope  the 
Gold  Fields  of  British  Columbia^  including;  the  Cariboo  Dis- 
trict and  the  Klondike  District  at  the  headwaters  of  the 
Yukon  River.  Shares  of  its  Capital  Stock  are  offered  to 
the  public  at  par  — $J.OO  per  share.  The  Company  is  placing 
exploring  parties  in  the  Gold  Regions,  each  in  thai'o;e  of 
mining  engineers,  fully  equipped  for  successful  discovery 
and  development.  Prospectus  and  additional  information 
furnished,  and  subscriptions  to  stock  received  at  office  of 


J.    EDWARD 


Harrison  Building, 

1500  Market  St., 
PHILADELPHIA. 


or 


ADDICKS, 

iManhattan  lUiildin^ 

66  Broadway, 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 


#1* 

♦ 


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